Redux
by ReaperLuca
Summary: As the night of July 28th comes to an end, Shirai Kuroko, who just so happened to be searching out a certain boy, is hit by the stray effects of John Pen's Feathers of Light.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:**

As the night of July 28th comes to an end, Shirai Kuroko, who just so happened to be searching out a certain boy is hit by the stray effects of John Pen's _Feathers of Light. _

**AN1: Slightly A.U. To Aru Majutsu no Index with Kuroko heavily involved with the Magic side. Strong Touma/Kuroko friendship and eventual Mikoto/Kuroko romance.**

**I am using the novels and some of the anime as a basis for the fic. **

**Some quotes and passages will be taken from the novels in that respect. They will be italicized and noted at the end. **

**There will be novel spoilers and if you haven't seen Index then this first part will be slightly confusing for you. Hopefully you stick with it!**

**For those of you reading **_**Linkage**_** do not fret! I will have the next chapter out in a bit, promise. To all of you newcomers I hope you enjoy**.

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Chapter 0:

_Redux (Lost)_

_July 28__th_

_11:58 P.M._

_Why is Onee-sama fawning over a stupid boy when she has me!? Am I not her most devoted friend and destined partner? I will not stand for this. What's so special about "Kamijou Touma" anyhow? What does he have that I don't?_

This was Kuroko's thought process as she made her way through district 7 towards a certain boy's dorm room. For the past month or so, Mikoto had been going on and on about "that idiot" someone who apparently had enough ability to be considered worthy of the Railgun's time and energy. To be perfectly honest, Mikoto would _not _shut up about him. In the showers, in their dorms, and on the way to summer classes; it was "that idiot" this and "that idiot" that. It was exhausting to listen to.

Kuroko had her suspicions early on when Mikoto had first mentioned said boy but they had only seemed to grow as time passed. A certain incident on July 20th had only served to strengthen her suspicion. Though she had been distracted with the ending of the whole Level Upper incident, it wasn't enough so that she was unable to notice the subtle but alarming change in her Onee-sama's mood. What's worse was that when she asked Mikoto about it, her Onee-sama simply brushed her off with an unconvincing smile and a wave of her hand.

It was only that same night that she realized that the "something" that was wrong with Mikoto had everything to do with Kamijou Touma when she heard Mikoto mumbling his name in her sleep and a stray tear falling down her cheek.

That was when Kuroko realized that something must be done about the boy who was causing her Onee-sama such grief. After doing a bit of research thanks to some help from Uiharu, she had learned that Kamijou Touma was a sixteen year old boy in his first year of high school. He was also frighteningly average and what's worse, was classified as a lowly Level 0.

Kuroko had been horrified, to say the least. To think, Onee-sama developing feelings for such a common beast of a man; it was unthinkable.

That is why as Misaka Mikoto's herald and most deserving partner, she had taken it upon herself to pay a visit to the boy.

She could not go during the day because of her Judgment duties and even if she had a spare moment, she did not want to draw attention to herself by visiting the boy at his dorm. After all, she doubted that anyone on this side of the district had ever seen a Tokiwadai student and who knows what kind of gossip would be circulating the halls of her school by mid day.

Which was exactly why she was out here at twelve in the morning teleporting to Kamijou Touma's dorm.

Kuroko sighed as she elegantly landed on a telephone poll and looked down towards Kamijou-san's home. She frowned as she took note of the complex before smirking at how ordinary it looked compared to the lavish dorms of Tokiwadai.

_A plain and simple room for a plain and simple boy; sounds about right. _

She brushed her hands on her grey skirt before teleporting onto the sidewalk outside his dorm. She then reached a hand into her pocket to look at her phone and check the time.

_12:05 a.m. _

Releasing another small sigh, she placed her phone back into her pocket and crossed her arms, suddenly conflicted. Though she had come all the way out here, she was unsure on how to proceed. Showing up at a stranger's house in the middle of the night _was _kind of crazy.

She rubbed her chin as her eyes narrowed thoughtfully, _What should I do? Even I know that I cannot simply barge in there like some kind of maniac. Yet if I knock at the door there's a good chance that he will think I am crazy anyways. Not that I care what some ape thinks of me but what if he tells Onee-sama? Ahh though I adore her love whips, Kuroko is still a little sore from the Level Upper incident. _

Kuroko looked back up towards his dorm before frowning when she realized that she had seen the place before.

_Hold on…isn't this the place that had that massive fire a few days ago? Hmm._

Placing a hand on her waist, she raised her hand to her mouth and frowned. From what she heard from Anti-Skill, this complex would ultimately be uninhabitable for the next few days therefore leading her to conclude that Kamijou Touma was not actually in his dorm as of this time.

She sighed a little, feeling defeated, _Should I just go home? _

Well, it's not like she had to get to know the boy immediately. She still had time.

Except…something was nagging at her gut. From all her years in Judgment, she knew when to follow a potential lead.

After a moment of deliberation, she nodded once before making a quick call to Uiharu.

.

.

.

_12:19 a.m._

"So, this is where the trail leaves off…" Kuroko mumbled to herself as she paused mid air before landing on the ground with a soft thump. She rubbed the back of her neck before releasing another small sigh. Uiharu was able to hack into the boys phone records and track his movements. Though the last call he made was three days ago, this was the only lead she had so far.

_I cannot believe I am going through so much trouble for one boy. _Kuroko held her fist up determinately as she shook free those thoughts, _no, no this is all for Onee-sama's sake. I must persevere. _

After that little pep talk, she nodded before inspecting the shack of a house closely. Her face contorted as her nose wrinkled in disgust.

_Really…what kind of acquaintances those this ape keep to be staying in such a place. Disgusting. He really is unfitting for my Onee-sama._

Another small breath escaped her as she looked up towards the door, eyes widening in surprise when she saw that the light was still on. A smile that was more like a sneer tugged at her lips as she straightened up.

_Be prepared boy. It's time for you to answer for your—_

Before she could finish her thought, a pillar of light flashed through the sky along with the sound of concrete and wood caving in. She stared up in shock at the noise as she covered her ears before teleporting back when a few stray pieces of rubble came her way. She closed her eyes to protect them against the stream.

_What—what was that?_

As the smoke slowly cleared, she opened one eye only for them both to widen, _Is that…coming from the apartment?_

Just what in the world is happening?

.

.

.

_12:24am _

By the time she had finally gathered her bearings, the smoke had all but cleared.

However, there was a strange pure white colored feathers floating down into the hole in the housing unit.

Her brows screwed together in confusion as she gazed up into the sky.

_What is that?_

She swallowed hard in an attempt to gather her bearings before slipping on her Judgment armband and clenching her fist. She took a deep breath.

_I do not know what is happening. However, it is my duty as an officer of this city to investigate any strange occurrences. _

With that thought in mind, she teleported to the top of the building, just beside the hole and looked down. Confusion raced through her when she saw who she believed was Kamijou Touma holding a girl tightly in his arms as feathers of light—_yes now that she had a clear view of them that was the only way she could describe them—_floated down around him.

Her eyes widened in shock when he suddenly collapsed on top of the girl. Before another thought could form, she felt something lightly touch the back of her head.

It was almost as if she had been hit by a hammer.

Her last conscious moment was of her falling forward into the house and onto the ground next to the boy.

The end tips of their index fingers touched as dozens of feathers of light floated down around them and onto their bodies

And on the night of July 28th two people "died".

Kamijou Touma.

And…Shirai Kuroko.

.

.

.

_July 28__th__, 8:23 A.M. _

A young girl weakly opened her eyes and awoke to the sound of machines running. She groaned a little as she slowly sat up and held a hand to her head before lowering it and gazing at it in confusion.

_Where…where am I? _She looked around tiredly before rubbing at her eye, _a hospital?_

"Ah, I see that you're awake."

An old man in a white coat smiled at her as he entered the room. Her first thought was that he resembled a frog.

The girl held her covers up to her chest as she frowned, "Who are you?"

Instead of answering, the frog faced doctor held up his hand as if to stop the stream of questions that he knew would come, "Before that, I would like to ask—can you tell me the last thing that you remember?"

She frowned as her grip on her covers tightened just a bit, "I…" she trailed off as she glanced at the covers, "Other than waking up a few moments ago…nothing."

The frog faced doctor sighed as he nodded, "And can you tell me your name?"

For some reason, a small spark of panic gripped her heart at the question as she wracked her brain searching for an answer.

The girl swallowed heavily, as if she was taking in something hard and bitter before shaking her head.

"No."

"I expected as much," the frog faced doctor held up some documents and handed them to her, "I'm sure that this will make up for some of the confusion that you feel."

The girl reluctantly took the papers and set them down on her lap. She lifted the first page and stared at it blankly, unsure of what she was reading and how it held any meaning to her.

_Shirai Kuroko._

_Thirteen years old. _

_1__st__ year student at the prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School. _

_Top tier member of Judgment._

_Level 4 Teleporter—_

"What does this all mean?" she asked suddenly as she looked up from the forms and towards the doctor, "what is this? Teleporter?"

The frog faced doctor eyes betrayed nothing at her onslaught of questions. He simply nodded before calling out to a nurse to bring in a wheelchair.

She frowned as the nurse helped her out of the bed but before being forced to sit, she looked towards the doctor desperately.

"Please."

Finally, since entering the room, the frog face doctor cracked a small smile.

"All of your questions will be answered soon, Shirai-san."

And for the second time in a matter of hours—though she didn't know it— Shirai Kuroko's eyes widened in the face of an indiscernible, uncompromising truth.

.

.

.

"I'm sure the both of you are very confused."

Kuroko could only nod as she continued sneaking glances at the boy beside her in puzzlement. For some odd reason, the frog faced doctor had wheeled her into a room with a boy she had never met before—_though she couldn't be sure at this point—_sitting up in a small bed. The boy was covered in bandages and her first thought when she had laid eyes on him was that he was "ordinary".

Absolutely nothing stood out about him other than his unnaturally spiky dark hair. For all intensive purposes, he was a completely ordinary boy.

"Though what I'm about to tell you might sound fantastical, I want you both to listen and understand that what I am saying."

Though Kuroko wasn't sure about the other boy, she made sure to listen in closely. She felt her heart begin to beat harder as she absorbed what the doctor had said, her eyes shimmering with unknown emotion.

_As a result of the magic that had afflicted them, the boy and two girls had collapsed in the_

_apartment and the two naming themselves magicians had brought them to the hospital._

_Those supposed magicians had told the doctors what had transpired and the doctors_

_had of course not believed them. The doctors had only told them both all of this because_

_they felt he had the right to know (1__st__)_

She lifted her head as if realizing something, "Hold on…I'm not saying I believe this but if it is true then that still doesn't explain what I was doing there."

From what he told them, the boy next to her was some kind of hero who had risked all and lost all in order to save a girl he barely knew from an enemy he could not possibly defeat. It sounded like something straight out of a fairy tale, an old time romance.

There was no room for her in such a tale.

The frog faced doctor could only frown at her question, "The "magicians" that brought you all in stated that they did not know where you came from but you somehow managed to be affected by the same "spell" afflicting Kamijou-san."

"But that's…" she bit her lip as she looked over at the boy, who had barely said anything since she first came into the room. Though she wouldn't know for sure, he didn't seem like someone she would be friends with. After all, he was a high school student and she apparently went to some rich school for girls.

It just didn't make any sense.

"What in the world was I doing there?" she whispered, her eyes lowering to her clenched fist.

There was a brief silence in the room before the boy cleared his throat, "Um," both Kuroko and the frog face doctor turned their attention to the boy who had been silent throughout this entire exchange.

He smiled awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head, "This is a bit much right now. I think we need a few minutes to think about this. I mean…magicians and Espers? It all sounds crazy."

The frog faced doctor's expression barely changed as he answered, "That sounds fine. Shirai-san, do you want me take you back to your room?"

"Ah, actually I was hoping to have a word with…Shirai-san, was it?"

Kuroko's brows drew together as she stared into the boys eyes and saw nothing but sincerity in them. She licked her lips before nodding.

"Yes, I would like that."

And with that, the two amnesiacs found themselves alone.

.

.

.

Kuroko was unsure of how to start a conversation. What did one say to someone they had never met before whom just so happened to be struck by the same ailment as you?

Though she was sure "memory obliteration" wasn't a normal, everyday disease.

"I'm sorry."

Kuroko was pulled from her musings at the apology. She lifted her eyes from her legs and onto the boy in front of her who was gazing at her in earnest determination.

"For what?" she asked in a slightly puzzled voice.

The boy took a deep breath before sitting up further in his bed, "I don't know what you were doing outside that apartment but you got caught up in something awful because of me."

Kuroko's breath caught at the statement, one she had never been expecting. After all, she was certain that whatever she was doing outside of that apartment right when something so strange was happening was her own fault.

What kind of thirteen year old girl is out at twelve in the morning on a school night?

"No…it's not your fault, Kamijou-san," she started slowly, gripping the wheels of her chair tightly, "Somehow I get the feeling that I ended up being my own undoing."

The boy tilted his head in confusion at that before turning to look out the window. There was another brief moment of silence before a light chuckle escaped him. Kuroko eyed the boy worriedly as he shook his head slowly.

"Who would have thought that something like this would happen?" he returned his gaze to her with a comforting smile, "Though to be honest, I would rather have suffered such a misfortunate event by myself. So even though you say that, Shirai-san, I still have to apologize. I'm sorry that this happened."

Emotion sprung up in Kuroko's throat at the boy's sincere words. She lowered her head as her hands tightened into fist and a stray tear slipped down her cheek.

"I'm sorry too."

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.

.

_This was less amnesia and more a case of complete memory destruction. They did not just "forget" their memories. The brain cells were physically destroyed. __Since it was physical damage – that is, just a wound – healing it might have been possible with recovery magic like with Index's sliced open back. However, that transparent boy had a right hand called Imagine Breaker. It would negate all magic whether it was for good or evil. As for the girl…magic could not be used on her without there being lasting effects. Though it was "recovery magic" the strain that it would put on her body due to her latent Esper abilities would be too huge. It could cause more permanent damage. (2__nd__)_

To put it quite simply, those memories were gone.

And nothing could be done to change that fact.

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.

.

_8:50am _

As soon as the frog faced doctor exited the room a call came in to his cell phone. For the first time in a long while his expression shifted from its usual calm to something else entirely. He lifted the phone to his ear and answered.

"It's rare for you to call me like this out of the blue."

_Do not tell me you haven't been expecting this call._

"Ah, yes, well. Be that as it may, I must ask that you refrain from such calls during work hours."

The voice at the other end of the line chuckled.

_I'll make sure to keep that in mind, old friend. _

The frog faced doctor sighed as he began walking down the corridor, "I have a question for you. Why did you ask me to lie to my patients?"

_Sadly, I can not divulge all the information that you seek. _

The frog faced doctor shook his head, "Something on this scale—" he paused for a moment before continuing in a tired voice, "Well, ultimately it is none of my business. But don't expect to lie to my patients ever again. They are my first priority."

_Do not worry, my dear dear old friend. _

_Everything that has happened is within the acceptable margin of error._

"Whatever you say…Aleister."

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**AN2: I took a few liberties here and there. Mikoto didn't show up but she'll be there front and center next chapter! Thanks for reading and until next time.**

_Taken from To Aru Majutsu No Index Volume 1_


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you for the story alerts, favorites and of course, reviews! I honestly don't know what to say except that I am very excited to write this and I truly hope that you all stick around. For all those people weary of Touma, thanks for giving this a chance. **

**Guest: **Idk you probably just missed this but Kuroko did go to Komoe's house. She didn't know it was Komoe's apartment though because she's never met her before therefore it was never stated as Komoe's apartment. If you look back during chapter one, Kuroko talks about going to an acquaintance of Touma's after leaving his dorm.

Anyways, onwards!

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Chapter 1:

_Memory Obliteration (Blank Slate)_

_July 28__th_

_Tokiwadai Dorms _

_7:07 a.m._

"Mm…" Mikoto slowly opened her eyes as sunlight streamed across her face. She blinked as she groggily covered her eyes before a tiny sigh escaped her.

"W-what time is it?" she mumbled as she rolled onto her back and blankly stared up at the ceiling before reaching over to her side and picking up her phone. She flipped it open and frowned when she noticed the time.

Mikoto thought it was weird that Kuroko hadn't woken her up since it was usually part of their routine. Kuroko would be up at 6:30 to take the first shower before waking Mikoto up at 6:45 so that they could have some leisure time before the 7:30 attendance call. She slowly sat up and rubbed at her eyes before looking towards Kuroko's side of the room. Her brows furrowed a little when she noticed that the bed had already been made and Kuroko was nowhere to be found. She glanced towards the bathroom curiously before yawning and scratching the back of her head.

She didn't hear the shower running but that didn't mean that Kuroko wasn't in the bathroom. Mikoto paused as a horrified expression crossed her face. _W-what if that idiot is waiting to ambush me?_ Many a time Kuroko had tried to "deepen the bonds of their relationship" by attempting to jump her when she entered the bathroom unaware only for the younger girl to be met with a prompt and deserving electric shock. She squeezed her hand as her fist shook in anger, _That little..._she stood up quickly and crossed the room in a matter of seconds before grabbing the handle and pulling the door open.

"Hey-!" she faltered, surprise lighting up in her eyes as her anger deflated when she noticed that the bathroom was empty. Mikoto placed a hand on her hip as she frowned and looked back out towards the room.

"Strange...did she just leave without telling me?" Mikoto raised a hand to the back of her neck and gingerly rubbed it, "...was I too harsh on her last night?"

Before final call was sounded, her pervert of a roommate had spent the majority of the night pestering her about sleeping together so that they could "indulge in each other's warmth." She did all this while demonstrating new lingerie set and attempting to kiss Mikoto leading to another wrestling match. In the end, Mikoto may have gone a little overboard on her with her denial.

_I guess calling her a pervert and telling her she was the last person I'd ever sleep with was kind of mean... _Mikoto's expression turned glum as she dropped her hand, _did I hurt her feelings?_

Sure, Kuroko had a problem with boundaries but she never did anything to hurt Mikoto too badly, other than her pride maybe. It's not like she would ever do anything seriously bad to her...

Mikoto sighed as she scratched her forehead, "Well, nothing I can do about it now," she clenched her fist as her lips curled into a smile, "I'll just make it up to her today. Maybe take her to get some ice cream, just the two of us. She'll definitely feel better then."

With that pleasant thought in mind, Mikoto went about preparing for her day with a smile on her face, unaware that things were about to get a lot more complicated.

.

.

.

Roll call was as it always was—tedious and long. By the time it hit 8 a.m., Mikoto was yawning and blinking back tears of boredom. She leaned against the back wall with a distant expression on her face as the dorm mistress checked off the girls one by one.

She hadn't seen Kuroko when she walked past the first years and hadn't bothered to ask any of the squealing girls if they had noticed her roommate. She knew that even if they had, they certainly wouldn't tell her about it.

_That stupid fan club, such a pain, _another sigh escaped her as she closed her eyes and rocked back on her heels. When the dorm mistress clapped, indicating that they were finished for the day, she breathed a sigh of relief before straightening up. She was just about to reach into her pocket and call her kouhai when she heard her name called from a voice that often sent chills down her neck.

Her back went ramrod straight as her face shifted into a terrified expression before she took a deep breath and reluctantly turned around.

"Ah, dorm manager-san, how may I help you?"

The dorm mistress glared down at her from over her glasses before pushing them up her face, "Misaka, the principal wants to see you."

Mikoto's unnatural expression faded a little as she tilted her head in confusion, "He does? About what?"

Annoyance crossed the dorm mistress face as she placed her hands on her hips, "I didn't ask. Head straight there, Misaka and don't forget to report back to me when you get back."

_Scary…_

"Uh, yes, of course. I'll go right now," Mikoto gave another unnatural smile and bowed before turning and practically sprinting away from her.

Her eyes darkened in worry as she hurried to the principal's office, her stomach twisting uncomfortably as a stone settled in her chest.

Something told her that this particular visit with the principal for once wasn't to discuss her title as the Ace of Tokiwadai.

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_A Certain Hospital _

_9:02 a.m._

Shirai Kuroko made her way down the winding hallway at a slow and steady pace. It had only been a few minutes since she learned her memories had been wiped out and she didn't know how to feel. On one hand, because she could not remember she did not miss anything. She did not know about any troubles that she might have been dealing with or problems she might have had. She was a blank slate, completely and utterly free of any burdens or doubt. Yet on the other, there was this lingering pain in her heart that told her that it wasn't as simple as that. She thought about the friends she might have and her relationship with her parents. She thought about her grades, her school life, and her work as a Judgment officer and what those things might have been like.

Lastly, she thought about the person that she might like. If she had a crush on someone; she wondered—what kind of person were they? Were they kind and strong? Brave and heroic? Did they like her back? All of these questions circled endlessly in her mind.

Yet most importantly, she thought about the kind of person she might have been. Would the Shirai Kuroko of yesterday have even been attracted to those traits?

She didn't know and it was frustrating. Everything was empty and meaningless because nothing held any meaning to her.

She was lost.

"Wah—Kuroko was interrupted from her musings as she accidentally bumped into a girl. Kuroko took in the silver haired girl's appearance with curious eyes as she smiled before whispering a soft, "Sorry."

The girl who was clearly not Japanese huffed before repeating the sentiment and continuing on her way. Kuroko turned to watch her leave as puzzlement swirled in her stomach before she shrugged and started walking again.

She was heading back to Kamijou Touma's room and in her hands were a few cans of soda. Since she no longer knew what her favorite drink was, she thought that she would share the experience with the other amnesiac.

They hadn't talked much when they were together. Neither of them really knew what to say and it wasn't as if they could offer up any information about themselves. In any case, she thought that this was a good way to break the ice.

"Ah…" she looked up from her drinks when she noticed the frog faced doctor enter Kamijou-san's room. Her gaze grew curious once more as she strode over to the door and placed her back against the wall. She knew that eavesdropping was wrong but her interest had been perked.

She listened in intently before her brows furrowed, _He lied to her? _It turned out that the girl she had bumped into was the same girl that Kamijou-san had essentially "died" for.

Index.

_What an interesting name. _Kuroko thought before blinking and straightening up when the frog faced doctor suddenly appeared beside her. If he was surprised that she was there, it didn't show on his face as he simply shook his head before muttering, "Goodness."

He walked away, leaving her alone to ponder on what she just heard. Her lips curled into a soft smile as she gazed up at the ceiling. When the frog faced doctor asked Kamijou-san why he had chosen to lie to the girl he "died" for, Kamijou-san replied, in a whimsical voice, that there were still things that he could remember.

Of course, for a moment, Kuroko had been excited. If he could remember then maybe she…

Her hopes were dashed not more than a second after that once the frog faced doctor bluntly explained why it was _impossible _for Kamijou-san to remember before disbelievingly asking Kamijou-san where these supposed memories were supposed to be.

Kamijou-san's only response had been:

"_Isn't it obvious? In my heart."_

Kuroko closed her eyes as she shook her head, _what a frighteningly sentimental boy…_a small sigh parted her lips as she nodded before turning the corner into his room. Kamijou-san was once again looking out the window and she took a moment to take in his countenance.

"Ah…" Despite what Kamijou-san had said, he still appeared to be melancholic. Her lips quirked into a small smile as she tilted her head before walking further into the room.

"I got one of everything in the vending machine."

Kamijou-san looked towards her in surprise before jumping a little when she tossed a drink his way. He barely caught it in his hands before he sighed.

"Jeez, be more careful."

Kuroko giggled before placing the other drinks on the table and sitting down in her wheelchair, "I apologize. I simply thought that would be the best way to get your attention," she wheeled the chair up to his bed so that she was next to him.

Placing her cheek on her palm, she gazed up at him solemnly as she watched him open his can of coconut soda and take a tentative sip. After a few minutes of silence she asked the question that had been bugging her since she first entered the room.

"Hey," she twirled her can of juice around in her palm before setting it down, "Why did you lie to that girl?"

Though she heard his reply to the frog faced doctor, she wanted to see if he would give her the same answer. After all, he could have just been putting on a brave front. She wanted to know if that's what his heart truly felt.

Kamijou-san looked down at his soda sadly before giving her a small smile, "I want to be the guy that even a girl like that deemed worthy enough to shed tears over. Someone like that…he must have been pretty special."

It was possible that his smile grew even sadder and Kuroko felt her heart ache with sympathy. But at the same time…

"I am sure she would have understood if you told her the truth," she spoke her mind clearly and honestly as she looked him in straight in the eye, "In the end, a simple lie told to protect that girl could end up hurting her a lot more."

She had decided just then and there, that if Shirai Kuroko did have someone in her life that cared for her enough to cry from the loss that she would not insult them with a lie. If they truly loved her, truly cared for her then they deserved the truth.

No matter how much it may hurt now the pain of tomorrow was always worse.

Kamijou-san was silent for a long time after that and she wondered if she overstepped her bounds. She was just about to apologize when she felt warmth on her hand.

He smiled at her with a reserved look in his eye, "I wish I was strong enough to do that, Shirai-san. A truly extraordinary person would be able to muster up the courage to tell a simple truth. But in the end…I'm just an ordinary boy."

Before she could find it in her to respond, the frog faced doctor returned, effectively interrupting their conversation.

"Shirai-san, you have a visitor arriving in a few minutes."

Kamijou-san gave her a light smile before releasing her hand and turning to look back out the window. She swallowed before grabbing the wheels of her chair and rolling over to the frog face doctor.

She gave Kamijou-san one last look before exiting with a frown.

.

.

.

Kuroko was surprised to see that her room was empty when she entered it. She bit her lip before rolling over to her bed, rising out of the chair and falling back against the bed. Her ears heated up as she rubbed her arms slowly. She was really nervous.

This person, whoever they were, was someone her old self knew. She wondered what kind of person they were and how much the loss of a friend would hurt them.

She found herself turning her gaze away from the ceiling and towards the entrance to her room when an out of breath, heavily breathing girl arrived. Her eyes widened when pretty brown eyes met hers. In that split second, she felt her breath catch, her heart stir and her stomach twist from something entirely unrelated to nerves.

The girl inhaled deeply before standing up straight and stalking into the room until she stopped in front of her bed. Kuroko sat up as well as she turned so that she was sitting on the edge of the bed and looked up to meet the girl's eyes.

Kuroko took this time to take the other girl in; she looked to be around middle school age with shoulder length brown hair and matching eyes. Her outfit consisted of a gray pleated skirt, a short sleeve blouse and a summer sweater.

She was beautiful in that ojou-sama sort of way and Kuroko had to wonder just what kind of world she lived in.

"Is it true?"

Eyes widening, Kuroko realized that she had been staring for quite some time and only noticed that the girl spoke because she had been watching her lips for some reason. Emitting a small puff of air, Kuroko felt her eyes falling to her legs and she squeezed them shut in an effort to calm herself. However, she did not get the chance to answer before the girl continued.

"It's can't be, right?" She stared down at Kuroko with a hazy look in her eye, "You're just playing a trick on me. Any moment now, you're going to—going to jump on me and laugh and say that it was all a joke…it's just a joke, right, Kuroko?"

Kuroko was taken aback by not only the fact that this girl addressed her by her given name but also the pleading she could so easily hear in the girl's voice. She felt her chest constrict as she swallowed back something bitter before tentatively looking the other girl in the eye.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't—"

That was all she could get out before the older girl's expression crumbled in grief and her breath caught, stealing her words. Regret pulsed heavily through Kuroko at the look of despair.

She now wondered if she made the right decision. Before she could say anything more, a light chuckle sounded in the air and the girl rubbed the back of her head. Kuroko frowned because she could see tears shining in the girls eyes even as she smiled.

"Are you thirsty? You probably are. I'll go get you something to drink. I'll be right back okay?"

The girl turned and hurried out of the room without another word and Kuroko could only helplessly watch her go before blinking in confusion and looking down at her arm.

For some reason, her hand was outstretched.

As if she were reaching out towards something she had lost.

.

.

.

Mikoto felt sick to her stomach as she stood in front of the vending machine with an unreadable expression on her face. Her eyes were wide with shock even as a few tears slipped down her cheeks. She dimly recalled her meeting with the principal and how he had sat her down in front of a large video monitor to speak with the frog faced doctor who had helped with the Level Upper incident.

When the doctor had first explained to her what had happened, she hadn't believed it. How could she? Something as fantastical as "complete memory obliteration" was too much for even her. Not only was it completely ridiculous, it was also apparently something that couldn't be cured. Those memories were just gone, irreparable.

Fear unlike any she had felt before gripped Mikoto's heart even as she drowned out the doctors words. She hadn't given him a chance to finish before she was out of her chair and racing towards the hospital, ignoring the calls of her principal and the doctor alike.

She was out of breath and wide eyed as she entered the hospital and asked for Kuroko's room. As she ran through the hallways, her heart raced from the knowledge of what she might face.

The reality was a lot more painful than she had expected. Those light brown eyes that were usually full of such warmth and devotion were empty. There was no familiarity in them and they appeared more apologetic than anything else.

_Crap…_Mikoto rested her head against the vending machine glass and closed her eyes, _what do I do?_

There was an Esper in Academy City who was known for being the strongest telepath. She was a student at Tokiwadai and the number 5 Level 5. If it wasn't for the fact that the frog faced doctor made it clear to her that there was absolutely nothing that she or anyone else could do, she would have begged on her hands and knees for the number 5 to help her despite the fact that they didn't get along. Mikoto had her pride but she was willing to throw it away if it meant saving her friend.

She banged her closed fist on the glass as frustration welled up inside her, _what do I do?_

_._

_._

_._

When she returned, Kuroko gazed up eagerly and went to apologize again only to falter when she spotted the red around the girl's eyes. Something akin to an ache welled up within her as she slowly shut her mouth. Despite what they both knew, the girl continued to smile as if nothing was wrong before holding up a can of ice coffee.

"Here, I got you this," she said as she walked over to Kuroko and placed the drink in her hands. The girl's eyes lingered on Kuroko's face causing heat to surface to her cheeks before she looked away and sat down into the chair next to her. Kuroko mumbled a soft thank you as she cradled the drink in her hands.

There was a moment of awkward silence before a small, unhappy sounding laugh fell from the girl's lips, "Sorry…this is kind of weird. I don't know what to say."

Kuroko silently agreed with the other girl's sentiment as she opened her drink and took a small sip. Her eyes closed as a tiny moan escaped her at the taste and her lips involuntarily curled into a smile.

"Is it good?"

Heat once again rose to Kuroko's cheeks as embarrassment pricked her heart. For a second there, she had completely forgotten that she wasn't alone. The girl must have picked up on her distress because she smiled again before scratching her cheek.

"I'm glad you like it…it's your favorite," the girl confessed before her head dropped and she looked down at her hands.

There was another long moment of silence in which Kuroko felt her stomach curl with unease. For reasons completely unknown to her, the urge to reach out to comfort this girl surged within her heart. Just as she was about to give into her desires, the other girl stood from the chair.

"I-I should get going."

"Ah…" Kuroko gazed up at the girl in confusion since she had just gotten there before her eyes softened in understanding when she noticed the faint shivers wracking the girl's body. At this sight, she could no longer hold back on what her heart begged her to do.

The girl looked down at her in surprise when she wrapped her hand around her wrist and gently squeezed.

"Please don't go. It's going to be okay."

She did not know what prompted those words. In reality, nothing was okay. She couldn't even remember this sweet girl who obviously cared enough about her to shed tears. She was a blank slate. But from the very bottom of her heart, she felt like they were true. She didn't understand why or how but she knew it would be okay.

Kuroko thought about Kamijou-san's words and how he could so confidently and willingly say that he remembered Index even though it was scientifically impossible. A soft breath escaped her as a smile appeared on her face.

She understood that it was improbable but all the same:

_I can feel it in my heart. _

.

.

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* * *

**AN: I hope you all enjoyed! Please review or send me a message if you'd like to talk. Ja ne**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: wow I really have no excuse as to why it took two weeks to get this up and I thoroughly apologize for the wait. Second: Thank you so much for the support and love. I am really blown away by the kind messages and reviews I received after posting the second chapter. You all really made me smile and I feel blessed that I was able to garner such a reaction from the readers. I hope, if you're willing, that you all will stick around until the end and continue to support me. Once again, thank you so much.**

* * *

_Compilation (Roommates) _

_July 28__th_

Mikoto stared down at Kuroko wide and teary eyed, unsure what to say. Though she knew that her best friend was essentially gone, she couldn't bring it in herself to abandon this girl who was pleading with her to stay. She wanted to ask how things would be okay, demand answers from someone she knew incapable of giving them to her but she refrained. Instead she drew in a deep breath and all but collapsed in her chair.

She lowered her head so that she could look at her hands before bringing them up to her face and resting her elbows on her thighs. Her eyes slipped close as she inhaled shakily.

Although she wanted to cry, she reminded herself that she had to be the strong one. Kuroko needed her. The girl may not know it anymore but she did. She had to be strong to make sure that Kuroko was okay because if from any indication from how she was feeling right now, she knew this would be hard.

Kuroko for her part simply watched the girl with worry in her eyes. Her hands twitched and she ached to reach out for the other girl again though she could not understand why.

There was a longing in her heart that had been beating away at her chest ever since she met those pretty brown eyes. She didn't know what to do with herself.

She held her hand to her chest as she closed her eyes. She just didn't know what to do.

"I'm sorry."

Kuroko looked towards the girl in surprise when she suddenly spoke. Words failed her in that moment and she could only listen on as the girl took a deep breath and slowly raised her head.

She gave Kuroko a genuine smile even as sadness swirled in her eyes, "I'm sure you're really confused. It was selfish of me to come in here like that."

Kuroko's breath caught as something in her throat constricted. Emotions twisted in her stomach and raged against her caged heart. It was confusing and deafening and she did not understand why this girl was able to draw out such emotions from her.

_It is as if her simple presence overwhelms me. Just who was this girl to Shirai Kuroko?_

"Kuroko?"

"Ah," Kuroko felt a blush spread out across her cheeks as she lifted her hands in apology, "I am sorry, what did you say?"

The girl tilted her head, gazing at her curiously before sighing and smiling a little, "I said 'I'm sure you have questions so feel free to ask me anything."

"Oh..." Kuroko swallowed before lowering her hands and picking at the covers. There was a moment of silent before she looked up at the girl, "thank you, ah...?"

The girl's smile dimmed a bit before returning though it was more subdued, "Misaka Mikoto."

Kuroko bit her lip as a smile formed despite the tense atmosphere, "Misaka Mikoto..." she repeated to herself in such a way that it as if she were trying the words for the first time and discovering that she liked the feel of them on her tongue.

A slow blush burned her cheeks, _Misaka Mikoto..._

Mikoto watched her with vaguely curios eyes and went to speak only to be interrupted by the arrival of the frog faced doctor.

"I see that you've arrived, Misaka-san. On that note, you can go home now if you wish, Shirai-san."

For some reason, a cloud of doubt surfaced in Kuroko's eyes before she looked down towards her now clenched hands. Mikoto frowned when she noticed this before turning towards the doctor and smiling politely.

"Thank you. But can we have a few more minutes?"

The frog face doctor blinked before shrugging, "I suppose that will be alright," he pointed towards the button next to Kuroko's bed, "use that to contact a nurse when you're ready to be discharged, Shirai-san."

Mikoto repeated her thanks once more before returning her attention to Kuroko. She looked on at her in worry before dipping her head so that she could meet Kuroko's eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"It's…" Kuroko faltered as she licked her lips, "it's nothing I..."

"Hey, even I can still tell when you're upset..." Mikoto's brows furrowed, "Do you not want to go home?"

"It's not that it is just...if I go home I...I just do not think I want to be alone right now."

The way Kuroko finished the sentence made it sound like the younger girl was questioning the very existence of the emotion behind the statement and Mikoto could see that Kuroko did not understand why she felt that way.

Scratching her cheek, Mikoto was unsure how to proceed. She wasn't good at these kinds of things not to mention this was an entirely new situation for her. She took a deep breath and mustered up all the courage within her to say what she knew was sure to be embarrassing for her.

"You won't be alone."

Kuroko tentatively looked up from the covers and into Mikoto's eyes, "What do you mean?"

Mikoto cleared her throat as she looked off towards the side, "You won't be alone because I'll be there with you. It'll be okay and I…you know, I won't let anything bad happen to you so…"

There was another moment of silence before Kuroko released the breath she did not know she was holding as a giggle escaped her, "You're the type that enjoys shoujo manga, aren't you?"

A dark blush erupted on Mikoto's face as she quickly rose from her chair, "Shut up, idiot! I was trying to be nice and—" Mikoto cut herself off when she noticed that Kuroko was laughing. Since she entered the room, this was the first time Kuroko looked like her usual self. The younger girl was even teasing Mikoto.

It made her feel a bit sad but also a little happy. Maybe Kuroko wasn't as lost to her as Mikoto once thought.

She sat back down in the chair with a small sigh and a soft smile, "Yeah, well, laugh it up all you want. See if you get anything from me next time."

"Aww, don't be like that," Kuroko held her hand up to her mouth as she giggled, "it was quite charming."

"Whatever, Kuroko, leave me alone."

The belligerent expression on Mikoto's face caused another round of giggles to escape Kuroko much to the chagrin of the older girl. She practically stomped her foot as she whined, "Mou, stop laughing!"

"Did you just stomp your foot?!" Kuroko was astonished by the childishness of the girl but at the same time, charmed.

Though she knew nothing about this girl other than her name, she could feel herself relaxing at the familiarity Mikoto directed at her. It made her feel good that even though she was no longer who she once was this girl who obviously cared a great deal about Kuroko could be so open with herself.

Which was exactly the reason why she found herself saying, "That's so cute, Misaka-san! Do it again."

"Kuroko!"

Heaven Canceller shook his head as walked past the laughing girl's room, noting that the one of the upsides of early retirement would be that he didn't have to deal with eccentric patients any longer.

He smiled at that thought as he shook his head a little, _I love helping my patients too much to ever truly give it up._

Though it was seriously times like these that he wished his passion for saving lives was a little less intense.

.

.

.

Kuroko knocked on Kamijou Touma's room door and waited a moment for him to respond.

"Come in!"

She entered the room with a smile which only widened when she saw that he was out of bed and looking out the window. Kamijou-san looked back towards her and grinned when he saw who it was.

"Ah, Shirai-san, it's you."

"Hi," she smiled at him, "are you feeling better, Kamijou-san?"

Kamijou-san lifted his arm and stretched it back and forth before smiling, "It seems so. How about you?" he asked as he lowered his arm, "You look…" he paused as he took in her features before his eyes softened, "you look a lot happier than when I saw you before."

"I do?" Kuroko held her hand behind her back as she smiled down at her feet, "Well, my roommate did come to see me."

"Oh?" there was a look of surprise on his face which promptly shifted into a smile, "I take it you two got along well then?"

"Yes. She is…very sweet," she held her hand to her chest, feeling her heart throb as she thought about Misaka-san, "She even offered to go home and pick up some clothes for me so that I would feel more comfortable."

"She sounds like a nice girl then."

There was a moment of silence before Kamijou-san cleared his throat, "So, ah, did you tell her?"

Kuroko bit her lip before nodding, "I did. I think she's still upset but I am still happy I told her the truth," she lifted her eyes from the ground and onto him, noting how he had shifted his gaze from her and off to the side. She sighed a little as she dropped her hand before walking over to him.

"You made your decision, Kamijou-san. Now all there is for you to stick to it," she gave him a disapproving look, "If you're going to make expressions like that then you should not have lied in the first place."

"I know, I know," he held up his hands defensively as he took a step back before rubbing the back of his neck, "Jeez, you're a lot bossier than I thought you would be."

"And you're very indecisive for someone who made such an important decision on a whim."

Kamijou-san grimaced, "It's not like I…planned for it to go that way," he mumbled as he gazed down at the ground sadly.

Kuroko found herself frowning at the lost look in his eyes before a light sigh escaped her and her lips curled up into a soft smile.

"You did what you thought was right. I suppose I cannot really fault you for that," she smoothed out her hospital robe as she sat down into the chair next to his bed before crossing her legs and placing her cheek on the palm of her propped up elbow, "what do you plan to do now?"

Kamijou-san looked over at her in confusion, "what do you mean?"

"Well…" her eyes darkened a bit, "if you go down this road it means that you will have to pretend to be someone you are not anymore," she held up her hand as if to make her point, "what if the person you use to be turns out to be someone you do not particularly like?"

"To be honest, I haven't really thought that far," Kamijou-san answered honestly as he took a seat on his bed in front of her, "I have no idea what kind of person I was. It's completely possible that I was some kind of idiot who just so happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. However," he lifted his eyes from the ground and looked into hers determinedly, "I will do whatever it takes to make that girl never cries again. I swear it."

Kuroko stared at him for a long moment before sighing and smiling lightly, "My, my. It seems like everyone I have met today has a penchant for shoujo manga."

Kamijou-san blinked, his determined expression fading as he gazed down at her in confusion. It took a second for what she said to process in his mind and when it did, he frowned, "Oi, it's cruel to make fun of a guy's hopes and feelings."

She waved her hand to the side, effectively dismissing his statement, "I would rather live in the reality of now than indulge in fantasies."

Touma released a heavy sigh, "You're really not cute, do you know that? I bet you were the type of girl who didn't even like small animals like kittens and puppies."

Kuroko glowered before scoffing and crossing her arms, "And you were probably the type who got himself involved in things that were no business of his."

There were practically sparks flying through the air as they glared at each other darkly before Kuroko released a tired laugh as she sunk down further into her chair. She bunched her fingers into the material of her hospital gown as her shoulders drew in, "Look at us, fighting over things that might not even be true..."

Kamijou-san gazed at her with understanding before giving her a gentle smile, "That's true…but you know what," he looked over towards the window and grinned a little before turning back towards her, "that's what makes it fun."

Surprise passed through Kuroko's eyes at his words and before long, she found herself smiling as well, "You truly are a frighteningly sentimental boy."

"Yeah," Kamijou-san closed his eyes as his grin widened, "I think I might be."

.

.

.

Kuroko sighed as she walked out of Kamijou-san's room after a promise to meet up later.

For some odd reason, both of their phones seemed to be broken though to different degrees. Kuroko could still look through her contacts on her phone unlike Kamijou-san, who seemed to have broken his screen entirely. As for hers, she just couldn't make outside calls.

She was however able to give him her number so she told him that whenever he got a new phone to give her a call sometime. It would be nice to talk to someone who was in the same situation as her.

Kuroko's expression grew solemn as she considered her condition once again. Although they had chosen different paths, she felt that she had about the same amount of troubles to face as Kamijou-san when it came to her memory loss. She was sure that there were people who would try to take advantage of her blank slate. She honestly just hoped that she wouldn't be duped so easily.

_No use in fretting about it now though,_ she thought as she slowly walked back to her room so that she could wait for Misaka-san to return. She was almost there when the frog faced doctor called her name.

"Wait a moment, Shirai-san. I have one last thing to talk to you about before you leave."

Kuroko looked back at him with puzzlement in her eyes as she slowed down before turning to face him. She stared up at his face as she thought about what else he could possibly tell her before nodding simply.

The frog faced doctor smiled a little, "walk with me for a little. I informed Misaka-san of this but I feel like you would understand better if I explained it myself."

"Alright..."

.

.

.

_July 28__th_

_Tokiwadai Dorms _

_9:48 AM_

"That should do it," Mikoto mumbled to herself as she wiped her brow and looked around the room. A soft sigh fell from her lips as frowned and sat down on Kuroko's bed next to the bag of clothes she had packed. She gazed up with a pained expression before wiping at her dampening eyes.

"C'mon, Mikoto, cut it out. You have to be strong," this was the mantra that had been playing in her head ever since she left the hospital. Every time her tears started to brim, she would push them down and repeat the same phrase over and over.

But even as she said this to herself, she couldn't help the sob that welled up from her chest.

"She called me "Misaka-san," Mikoto sniffled as she stared at the ground with bleary eyes before releasing a small sob, "shit, shit," she rubbed at her face roughly, "this is just so stupid!"

Why did this have to happen? It wasn't fair. Kuroko was her best friend, the only person in the world who understood and accepted her for everything that she was. Yeah, she could a bit of a pervert sometimes and she liked to tease Mikoto about her childish tastes every now and then but Kuroko still loved her.

Mikoto may not have been very good at expressing her feelings but she appreciated Kuroko's love and friendship. And after a year of being avoided by her peers because of her reputation, she had even come to rely on it. She had actually been stupid enough to hope that they would be friends forever and nothing would ever tear them apart.

But now Kuroko was gone. She was _gone_ and left in her place was this stranger wearing her best friends face. It was so unfair.

_What am I going to do?_

Mikoto held her hands together as she squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth only to look up when she heard a knock on her door. Wiping at her face once more, Mikoto stood to open the door and was met by the face of her glaring dorm supervisor.

"Misaka, you never checked in."

"Geh—" Mikoto paled at the statement before clearing her throat and shifting uncomfortably, "uh, I'm sorry, I was just so, um, overwhelmed with everything I just came back here and…" she looked down at her feet before whispering, "Sorry."

The dorm supervisor released a heavy breath before placing her hands on her hips, "I'll let it pass just this once," she examined the room with a critical eye before returning her gaze to Mikoto, "where's Shirai?"

Mikoto's brows furrowed as she gripped her arm uneasily, "She's still at the hospital. I came home to get some of her stuff and I'm heading back right now."

Nodding, the dorm supervisor fixed her glasses before stepping to the side so that Mikoto could leave, "When you two get back, be sure to report to the principal's office. He'd like to speak with the both of you."

"Uh?" Mikoto's eyebrows furrowed together at the demand, wondering what he could want before she nodded and mumbled, "Okay."

.

.

.

_Tokiwadai Middle School_

_11:13AM_

"Oh, Shirai-chan, when I heard what happened I knew I just had to speak to you right away. After all, you're one of my favorite students."

"Ah, thank you," Kuroko brows were pinched as she regarded the man in front of her. He looked rather young to be the principal of a renowned private school but given Academy City's technology she figured that it wasn't too much to assume that he was older than he appeared.

Mikoto had a similar expression on her face as she sat stiffly next to Kuroko. When the other girl had arrived at the hospital only an hour earlier and explained to her that they had to go see their principal first thing, she had immediately been suspicious.

After all, she had _just _been discharged. She'd have thought that they'd want to give her a chance to relax before demanding to talk to her.

Kuroko cleared her throat as she sat up a little, "Ah, if I may…?"

"Higurashi, dear."

She smiled politely, "Higurashi-san, I was wondering why Misaka-san and I were called here?"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure you both are very curious," he leaned forward on his desk and he twined his fingers together, "I know this may seem a bit unsightly but the board and I decided that it would be best if we went over this as soon as we could."

"Went over what?" Mikoto finally spoke up, a feeling of dread roiling in her stomach because she had a feeling she knew where this was going.

"Well," Higurashi-san sighed before running a hand through his slicked back hair, "it's regarding Shirai-chan's continued enrollment at Tokiwadai and whether or not her…condition will get in the way of her studies here."

Kuroko's eyes widened in shock at his statement; she was completely caught off guard and had never expected them to seriously be contemplating expelling her.

"Wait, what the fu—" Mikoto quickly tempered herself to keep obscenities from exiting her mouth before taking a deep breath and beginning again, "what do you mean? Are you saying that you guys are going to kick Kuroko out just because she lost her memory?"

Outraged would be an understatement to what Mikoto was feeling right now. She knew Tokiwadai was unreasonably strict and demanding sometimes but this was ridiculous. Kuroko had barely enrolled a few months back in April and Mikoto knew how hard she worked to get in.

"Given Shirai-chan's situation I think it would be wise to consider the possibility that she just won't be able to keep up with the curriculum—"

"You have got to be kidding me!" Mikoto all but shouted as she stood from her chair and slammed her hands on the table, "that's complete crap!"

"Now, now, Misaka-chan," Higuashi-san smiled awkwardly as he held his hands up, fear in his eyes as if suddenly realizing that he was sitting in front of a very pissed off Level 5, "it's just a possibility."

"A completely unfounded one!" Mikoto growled as she turned her head towards Kuroko, "Kuroko, are you hearing this shi—" Mikoto faltered when she saw the freaked expression on her kouhai's face.

She frowned darkly before lowering her hand to her waist and straightening up. Her posture grew firm as she regarded Higurashi-san with a determined stare, "You're scared that Kuroko can't use her ability anymore is that it?"

Higurashi-san swallowed before nodding slowly, "That among other things."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that. Kuroko can still use her powers and she still remembers her studies. Right, Kuroko?"

Kuroko jumped a little when she felt a firm but gentle hand on her shoulder. She peered up at Mikoto in surprise before blinking and gazing at the principal, "Yes, Misaka-san is right."

Mikoto's hand tightened on her shoulder for a second but she didn't give herself a chance to think about that before continuing, "Though I could not remember that I was a Teleporter, the knowledge I need in order to teleport is still retained in my head. I could even demonstrate it right now for you if you wish."

Higurashi-san frowned, "Before that, could you explain to me how that works? I thought you lost your memory?"

"I have," Kuroko licked her lips before sighing, "a human memory does not exist as just one thing but as many parts; two of those important parts are the Word Memory which governs vocabulary and knowledge and the Event Memory which governs recalling of events. Because only my Event Memory was affected, I still hold all the knowledge I need in order to remain a student here."

"Really now? How interesting."

Kuroko glowered a little, "If you do not believe me you can check with my physician. I can assure you he will tell you the same thing I have."

"No, no, that's not necessary, Shirai-chan," Higurashi-san smiled brilliantly as he pulled out some paperwork and stamped it quickly, "I see no reason why you can't stay a student here if this all checks out," he shuffled the papers before setting them aside, "I apologize for the inconvenience, but as you know, there are certain requirements needed in order to be here at our Tokiwadai…"

"No further explanation needed, Higurashi-san," Kuroko interrupted as she brushed her hair back before standing and straightening her skirt, "I understand. Its policy right?" she regarded Higurashi-san with a cool glance before placing her hand on Mikoto's arm.

"We won't hold you up any further. Shall we head back to our room, Misaka-san?"

Mikoto blinked before laughing lightly, "ah yeah, let's go," she gave Higurashi-san an awkward smile before rubbing the back of her head, "Sorry about the desk, sir," she turned around and her smiled slipped from her face completely as she headed towards the door, "Let's go, Kuroko."

.

.

.

_Tokiwadai Dorms _

_Mikoto and Kuroko's room_

"I can't believe those assholes! They'll do anything to keep their stupid "precious" reputation spotless ugh!" Mikoto kicked the leg of her bed angrily, "How could they even think about kicking you out! You're not an invalid. God," she ruffled her hair up irritably before clenching her fist, "I should have just—" she faltered when she felt a hand tugging at the edge of her summer sweater.

She frowned as she looked back only for her eyes to widen when she noticed the look Kuroko was giving her. She felt her breath catch at the grateful expression adorning Kuroko's face.

"Thank you," Kuroko practically beamed at her before lowering her gaze to the floor, "I was so shocked that I was speechless for a moment. If you hadn't spoken up I am sure he would have railroaded me out of there before I even got the chance to explain."

"Ah…" Mikoto stared down at Kuroko with an unreadable expression before her eyes softened and she reached forward so that she could pat Kuroko's head, "I'm not use to you being so demure… a-anyways, you can rely on me, Kuroko. I'm your senpai after all."

"Senpai?" Kuroko tilted her head as she raised her head curiously, "we_ are_ roommates right?"

Mikoto blinked before crossing her arms and frowning a little, "Yeah, we are."

"Then how did you end up rooming with an underclassman?"

An involuntary shiver went down Mikoto's back as she released an uncomfortable chuckle, "I had a different roommate at the start of the year but somehow you managed to convince her to move…" Mikoto rubbed the back of her neck as a small blush shaded her cheeks, "all of this without my knowledge by the way. I never wanted to ask mostly because I was scared to hear how you managed to pull that off."

"Oh…" Kuroko felt a drop of sweat roll down her cheek, _That is kind of scary. _

Shaking her head, Kuroko rid herself of those thoughts before turning and sitting down on what she assumed was her bed, "So, Misaka-senpai—"

"Wow, heh, you've never called me senpai before, even when we first met. You did call me "idiot" for a while though you made sure to call me "Misaka-san" when we were in front of the adults. And then you…" a distant look entered in Mikoto's eyes before she closed them and sighed, "You can call me "Mikoto"

"Mikoto…senpai?"

Mikoto's eyes crinkled up as she grinned, "You can drop the "senpai" if you want."

Kuroko bit her lip with a small smile, "I think I would feel more comfortable calling you "senpai." It's more respectful."

"Oh…" Mikoto's smile faded as she looked down at the ground before peering back up at Kuroko from beneath her bangs, "well, if you change your mind the offer still stands. Anyways, you're probably hungry. I'll see if I can convince the dorm supervisor to let me bring you something to eat."

"Okay." Kuroko frowned as she watched Mikoto leave the room before biting her bottom lip gently, _Did I hurt her feelings?_

Releasing a small sigh, Kuroko laid down on her side before gripping her pillow and curling up in the bed. She closed her eyes before rolling onto her back and staring blankly up at the ceiling.

_This…this is going to be hard._

_. _

_._

_._

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_**AN: **_**ENDYMION NO KISEKI NEXT WEEK. and god that episode of Railgun S was so good I loved it and I usually find filler eps boring but it was great to see the girls together and happy and c'mon did you guys catch the symbolism of Kuroko reaching out towards Mikoto in the new opening and having her do so at the end of the episode. awesome. I personally think Railgun S is the best thing J.C. Staff has done in regards to the Raildex franchise WHICH HONESTLY MAKES ME SO PUMPED UP FOR INDEX III and also ENDYMION NO KISEKI. anyways thank you all for reading. Until next time **


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: once again sorry for the wait, someone in my unit quit which means someone has to cover until they can find a replacement, that someone being me. Anyways, I would like to say thank you once again for all the kind reviews and the like. I always appreciate them and I got a few from a certain someone so that really perked me up. The interesting and detailed responses really inspire me to keep writing. This chapter is for a close friend of mine, it was her birthday Wednesday so happy birthday Mariah. **

**Hopefully the next chapter will be up within a week or two if work isn't too crazy sigh. **

**Please excuse any errors and I hope you all enjoy and review.**

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_Rediscover (Descent) _

Chapter 3

_July 28__th_

_11:38 PM_

Mikoto released a soft sigh as she closed the door behind her before resting her back against it. Her eyes slipped close as she inhaled deeply before reopening them into slits. She quietly contemplated Kuroko's words before blinking and straightening up when she heard her phone go off.

Reaching into her pocket, Mikoto pulled out her cell and flipped it open without thought to who could be calling her at this time. Her eyes widened, however, when she saw who it was and with an ounce of hesitation, she found herself answering the phone when it reached the third ring.

"Hello?"

"_Misaka-san, finally! I've been trying to reach you all day, did you have your phone off or something?"_

"Saten-san, hey," Mikoto lowered her voice as she pushed off the door and began walking away from her room, mindful of the fact that the younger girl left inside could still possibly hear her even at this distance, "sorry, I was busy. What's up?"

"_Well, Uiharu and I were just wondering if you and Shirai-san wanted to get lunch right now? It's been forever since we last hung out!"_

Mikoto rubbed the back of her neck as an involuntary smile appeared on her face, her mood picking up a little at sound of her friends voice, "Thanks for the offer but Kuroko and I are going to eat in the dorm for lunch today."

"_That sucks but alright. How about dinner then?"_

"Ah…" Mikoto's gaze drifted to the side as she considered Saten-san's words, "maybe; if Kuroko feels up to it then yeah."

"_Oh is something wrong? Is Shirai-san sick?"_

Mikoto paused as she looked back towards her dorm, her brows furrowing sadly as she shook her head even though Saten-san couldn't see it, "No, no, she's fine. Everything's fine."

The lie slipped easily from her mouth, her loyalty to Kuroko and their friendship making it as simple as breathing for her. She would do everything in her power to protect Kuroko's fragile state of mind until the girl was ready for the world to know what happened.

The principal didn't count of course because he had found out through his own means. He was an inconsequential player in the entirety of this issue. This was Kuroko's life and until she got the okay, Mikoto would keep her mouth shut regarding Kuroko's memory loss.

"I'll ask her when I get back to the dorm," Mikoto closed her eyes tight as she exhaled softly, "Actually, Saten-san, I'm running an errand right now so I have to go."

"_Uh, well, okay, if you're sure…"_

"Yep," Mikoto made sure to put the right amount of cheer in the inflection of her voice, "I'll call you later."

She hung up after hearing a hesitant yet understanding 'okay' before sighing and lowering her hand. Her hands curled up into fist as she once again took a deep breath before pocketing her phone. Mikoto's shoulders dropped a little as she frowned, _I have to do this. I have to be strong._

Mikoto set her brow as she walked away from her dorm, her steps heavy and carrying the load of her grief. With one clear destination in mind, only one sentence played over and over in her head.

_For Kuroko's sake. _

_._

_._

_._

On the other side of town in a small student dorm, Saten Ruiko was staring at her cell phone with a slightly confused yet worried expression. Across the room, Uiharu Kazari, who was preparing a simple snack for them before they went to meet some friends from school looked up from her plate of taiyaki when she heard Ruiko approach and frowned when she noticed her expression, "What's going on, Saten-san?"

Ruiko blinked at the question before biting her lip, dropping down onto the floor and laying her arms on the small table, "I don't know. Misaka-san sounded weird on the phone though and well, you said Shirai-san hadn't been answering your calls either right?"

Kazari's brows furrowed once more as she took a seat next to Ruiko, "That's right…do you think something's wrong?"

Sighing, Ruiko reached forward to pick up taiyaki and take a bite. She chewed silently before swallowing and shrugging, "Who knows? With those two it could be anything."

_._

_._

_._

Kuroko sat up when Mikoto returned, determined not to make things tenser than they already were. She had a feeling that if they really were as close as they appeared to be, mostly due to Mikoto's reactions to her current state, that the older girl must have been putting forth a tremendous amount of effort to appear normal. She went to speak only to falter when she noticed the haggard expression on Mikoto's face.

Her brows knit into a frown, _Did I put that there? _She felt something in her ache at the mere thought and she swallowed thickly before murmuring a tentative, "Senpai?"

Mikoto glanced up quickly at the call, almost as if she had forgotten that she was there before smiling awkwardly, "Ah, sorry, sorry, the dorm supervisor needed, um, a lot of persuading," she released an uncomfortable chuckle before walking over to the girl, "a-anyways, I got you a lot of sandwiches and some crackers," she smiled as she held up the bag, "You can have as many as you want. There's a lot because the girls who were on staff for meals today kind of went overboard when they found out they were for me…"

The last part of the statement confused Kuroko a bit but she eagerly accepted the bag and set it on her lap, "Thank you, Mikoto-senpai."

Mikoto's breath caught, her eyes glistening a little before she smiled softly and took a seat next to Kuroko. She reached over to ruffle her hair once more, "You're welcome," she breathed as she gently ran her fingers through the soft brown locks before dropping her hand, "let me know if they're good."

Kuroko hummed as she opened the bag and pulled out a neatly wrapped turkey and cheese sandwich. She went about unwrapping it before pausing and looking over at Mikoto.

"You're not eating, Senpai?"

If Mikoto was surprised by the question, she didn't show it as she lay back against the bed and rested her head on her arms, "No, I'm fine."

Mikoto's stomach growled even as she said that and Kuroko laughed at the sight of reddening cheeks.

"Okay, maybe I'll have one," Mikoto mumbled with a blush as she sat up and reached into the bag on Kuroko's lap. She took out the sandwich and pulled the plastic wrap off the edge before biting down into it.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Kuroko asked the question that had plagued her since she awoke this morning, "Mikoto-senpai, how much do you know about what happened to me?"

Mikoto blinked at the question, not expecting it at all and swallowed before turning to look at Kuroko. She took in the younger girl, noting the furrowed brows and the downcast expression with a frown, "Honestly, not much, Kuroko. The doctor just told me that you lost your memories, not how it happened."

"Oh." A sigh of relief escaped Kuroko at that as she glanced off towards the side, _So then she doesn't know about Kamijou-san. Good._

While she may not agree with his decision to keep his memory loss a secret, she did respect it enough to not tell anyone about it, even the person who her old self probably considered a trusted friend.

She lifted her sandwich to her mouth and took another bite, _besides, it's probably better to keep Mikoto-senpai out of the full scope of things anyways. _

Kuroko thought about the possible reaction the older girl would have if she told her that the cause of her current predicament was _magic_. She'd probably laugh Kuroko out of the room or think she was insane.

In a world where everything could be explained with science, the idea of magic probably never crossed anyone's minds. To be quite frank, it was something worthy of ridicule when faced with the technologically advanced Academy City.

Mikoto watched Kuroko with curious eyes, her head tilting in confusion at the relieved expression on Kuroko's face. She considered asking her but found herself faltering for some reason. Perhaps it was the fear that this Kuroko still didn't fully trust her, not that she could really blame her. It had only been half a day after all.

After coming to this conclusion, Mikoto nodded to herself before standing, "hey, do you want to look at our photo album?" she inclined her head back so that she could grin at Kuroko before pointing over at her bookcase, "There are some pictures that we took over the school year and—"

"Of us?" Kuroko asked suddenly, breaking Mikoto's train of thought. Her eyes widened when she saw Kuroko's face light up and her lips curl up into a smile.

Mikoto found herself smiling as well at the excited expression, "yeah, of us and some of our friends too."

Kuroko straightened up a little as a look of interest entered her eyes, "speaking of our friends, do they know what happened to me yet?"

Turning away at the question, Mikoto glanced down at the ground sadly as she gripped her elbow and sighed, "Not yet. I wasn't sure if you wanted to tell them or not."

"Mmm…" Kuroko frowned as she lowered her sandwich to her lap and considered Mikoto's words. On one hand, she whole heartedly believed that if these people were her friends then they deserved to know the truth. On the other hand, taking Mikoto's initial reaction into consideration, she felt an understandable amount of distress at the idea of disclosing the truth to them.

She didn't think she could handle another person crying over her.

Despite all this, she took a deep breath before nodding, "I do want to tell them. They deserve my honesty. They're my friends, right?"

At those words, Mikoto looked back and stared at her with an astonished expression. They gazed at each other as a moment of silence passed before Mikoto's eyes grew unbelievably soft. She released a light chuckle before nodding in agreement, her expression full of pride at Kuroko's words.

"That's right."

.

.

.

_Joseph's _

_July 28__th_

_5:51PM_

"Are you sure you're ready for this?"

Kuroko sighed at the question before turning to look at Mikoto once more. They were outside of a quaint little diner by the name of Joseph's, which Kuroko was assuming that it was someplace they often frequented before the incident took place.

"Of course," even as Kuroko stood tall, she couldn't quite keep the nervous lilt out of her voice. Though she knew this was the right thing to do, she was still scared of their possible reactions. After Mikoto-senpai briefly filled her in on her life, she now at least knew what Uiharu Kazari and Saten Ruiko looked like and her history with them.

What surprised her most was the knowledge that she was the one who essentially brought their group together being that this Uiharu Kazari and she had been friends the longest. This only served to steel her conviction in telling them the truth.

_Their friendship must have been very important to me. _

With that thought in mind, she was more than sure that she was doing the right thing. However, that didn't mean she wasn't nervous about it.

"I can do this, Senpai," she made sure to look Mikoto in the eye as those words passed her lips, "Please do not worry."

Mikoto frowned a little before releasing a soft breath. She took this time to look Kuroko over and her brows furrowed further when she noticed the slight, almost unnoticeable quivers wracking Kuroko's form. She bit lip to keep from commenting in fear that her pestering would push Kuroko away and instead chose to cross her arms before sighing again, "I'll go along with it if that's how you really feel."

She looked off towards the restaurant with frown, _Will this really be okay though? _Mikoto wondered as she grimaced before taking a deep breath, "Well, it's now or never. If you're really ready to do this then let's go."

.

.

.

_Could this be any more awkward? _Kuroko gripped her skirt tightly and sat with her shoulders drawn together. Nearly ten minutes had passed since all the girls sat down and it wasn't long before Uiharu-san had noticed how Kuroko was acting and commented on it.

It didn't help that she pretty much blurted out, "I lost my memories," without warning and then promptly fell silent after that.

What surprised her most however was when Saten-san shot up from her seat and excitedly exclaimed, "This is just like that Urban Legend I read about the other day!"

Uiharu-san's reaction was a bit more tamed and as she tugged Saten-san back down, she asked Kuroko to explain what she meant exactly. Kuroko found herself at a loss; how much clearer could she possibly get?

Sensing her unease, Mikoto jumped in and tried to clear the air, though she sounded a bit uncomfortable herself even as she attempted to explain Kuroko's words.

"Kuroko doesn't remember anything before this morning…" Mikoto started before trailing off, unsure how to continue seeing as she didn't have the full story. Kuroko took this time to clear her throat before speaking up.

"You see, I got into what I am assuming was a…accident last night and my memories were…"

"Obliterated," Mikoto finished for her before lowering her eyes to the table and clenching her fist. Kuroko gazed at her worriedly from the corner of her eye before looking down towards the hands. Another moment passed as Uiharu-san frowned and glanced over towards Saten-san before returning her gaze back to Kuroko and Mikoto.

"You're…you're saying you don't remember us?"

Saten-san released an awkward chuckle as she looked around the table and tried to diffuse the tense atmosphere, "They're obviously playing a trick on us, Uiharu, I mean, this sounds too Sci-Fi-y, even for us," Saten-san continued to giggle before swallowing when she noticed no one else was laughing, "C'mon, Shirai-san, Misaka-san, this is pretty elaborate for a joke…"

Mikoto gritted her teeth a little, "She's not lying and this isn't a joke, Saten-san."

Kuroko bit her lip as her brows drew together and she glared down at her clenched hands. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves before hesitantly looking up.

"I don't know how to properly explain what happened but…" she made sure to look Uiharu-san and Saten-san in the eye as these next words left her mouth, "this is real. I can't remember anything."

Uiharu-san and Saten-san's breath caught at her words and Kuroko found her eyes dropping to her fiddling hands once again. A few seconds passed before Uiharu-san stuttered, "I-is it temporary?"

Frowning, Kuroko inhaled shakily before shaking her head, "It's not."

"Well, there must be something we can do," Saten-san brows furrowed as she leaned forward on the table top, "is there any way we can help? I mean," Saten-san glanced over at Uiharu-san and nudged her a little, "I mean, I may not be able to do much but Uiharu can—"

"The doctors said there was nothing we could do," Mikoto mumbled as she sat rigid in her chair, her eyes trained on the table, "if it could be fixed I would have done something about it already."

"Senpai…"

"This is crazy," Uiharu-san sniffled before wiping at her eyes roughly, "we can't just give up. There has to be something we can do," Uiharu-san glanced over at Kuroko with sad, darkened eyes, "we were supposed to become full Judgment members together," tears slipped down her cheeks as she sniffled once more, "How can we do that if you don't even remember the promise we made to one another?"

A stab of guilt hit Kuroko in the chest and she felt herself draw further in herself. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before looking up and leaning across the table.

What she did next surprised everyone, even herself.

She took Uiharu-san's hands in her own and gazed into her eyes with a conviction they were all familiar with though to varying degrees.

"I may not have my memories anymore but I can say with one hundred percent certainty that you are someone who is very important to me. I will forever cherish the fact that you cared enough about me to cry, Uiharu-san, and I will do _everything _in my power to make sure our promise is realized."

Uiharu-san's eyes widened at her words and she stared at Kuroko with an expression that quickly morphed from shock to determination. She squeezed Kuroko's hands tightly before giving her a watery smile.

"It's Uiharu. You call me Uiharu."

A look of surprise crossed Kuroko's face before she smirked and nodded, "Alright, Uiharu."

As the two girls giggled softly at one another, Ruiko frowned as she stared at Mikoto, who had grown progressively quieter and gloomier as the minutes passed. She made a note to ask Mikoto how she was coping before she grinned and slung an arm around Uiharu's shoulders.

"On that note, you can just call me 'Ruiko' if you want, Shirai-san. You were always too polite to drop the honorific—"

"I think I'd be more comfortable with 'Saten-san'," Kuroko muttered importantly and giggling when Ruiko made a show of dropping her head on the table before sitting up and placing her cheek on her hand with a grin.

"Shot down completely, huh?"

The corners of Mikoto's lips curled up into a small smile at the banter even as her heart grew heavy. While she was glad everything had worked out but she couldn't lie and say that she was exactly happy now. After all, nothing could change the fact that her best friend was gone.

_No, I have to stop thinking like that, _Mikoto squeezed her eyes shut as she clenched her jaw, _she needs me, I can't keep acting selfishly. _With this thought in mind, Mikoto forcefully swallowed back her bitterness and smiled cheerfully at her friends.

"Now that that's all out in the open, how about we get some dinner? I'm starved!"

The girls around the table quickly agreed to her words, picking up their menu's to order and spending the rest of their hour talking and laughing. So focused on acting normal, Mikoto didn't notice twin gazes full of worry watching her throughout the night.

.

.

.

_7:10 PM_

"Ah, that was great," Mikoto stretched as she and Kuroko walked back to their dorm. They had an hour before curfew but Mikoto didn't want to risk inciting the dorm supervisor's wrath by cutting it close.

"Yes it was," Kuroko agreed with a light smile as she walked beside Mikoto, her gaze steadily trained on the other girl. Be it residual memory or intuition, she felt that something was off about Mikoto's behavior. Maybe it was because her smile was too bright, her demeanor too cheery, the joy radiating in her smile not matching the dull, distant look in her eyes.

Whatever it was, concern pulsed through Kuroko, thick and heavy. She was scared the older girl was holding herself back, keeping her feelings locked up so to not burden Kuroko.

_I have to let her know that she can still talk to me…_

"Hey, Kuroko?"

Kuroko nearly toppled over in surprise as she walked into Mikoto's back when the older girl suddenly stopped moving. She held her hand delicately over her nose as she stuttered, "Y-yes, Senpai?"

Mikoto turned and gave Kuroko a smile that she was slowly but surely growing use to seeing and felt her heartbeat pick up at the sight of it.

"Let's hurry home, okay?" Mikoto glanced up at the sky before turning and holding her hand out to Kuroko, "it looks like it might rain."

Kuroko hesitated for a second before smiling softly and taking Mikoto's hand. In that moment, some of her distress faded and the weight pressing down on her chest eased up a bit and for the second time that day, she felt like everything would work out.

"Okay."

As long as she had her friends.

.

.

.

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**AN: This chapter had a very clear theme: FRIENDSHIP. Which I think is going to be very important to Kuroko in the coming chapters. Next chapter: Gossip, blood and a certain boy come into the mix! Thank you for reading and I'll see you next time. **


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: As promised! Chapter is out within a week hahaha. **

**We're back with 5,000 words! I hope you all enjoy, a lot of effort went into this chapter in particular and after this, the story should move along from its semi slice of life aspects and jump straight into the main storyline. The timeline will be switching from the Railgun side to the Index side quite frequently but both worlds co-exist and can cross at any moment!~**

**As you can tell from the title, another level 5 will be making an appearance! I hope you enjoy and once again thank you so much for the support and love. I truly appreciate it. You guys don't know how happy you've made me seriously.**

**To those who asked: I have read the manga! I've read the Index manga, the Railgun manga, the Index novels; I've seen seasons 1&2 of Index and season 1 of Railgun. And I'm watching season 2 of Railgun as it airs baby. Also I am taking a short break from Linkage. I know how much y'all love that story though so I promise you that I will finish it, I just don't know when.**

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Mental Out (Deep Blood)

_Chapter 4_

_First Week of August_

_Tokiwadai Dining Area _

_9:45 AM_

Kuroko released a small sigh before slowly opening her eyes and glancing around the room with a sullen expression. The cafeteria was bustling with noise and movement as the students of Tokiwadai enjoyed a nice, gossip filled breakfast. Though this wasn't the first time Kuroko had been to the dining hall since her memory loss, the absence of Mikoto-senpai made her all too aware of the happenings around her.

_Why do I feel like they are talking about me? _Kuroko wondered with a frown as her eyes lowered back down at her full plate, _Oh that's right, it's probably because they are._

With happiness from her reunion with Uiharu and Saten-san bubbling in her heart, it wasn't until some days later that she noticed that in her school, none of the others girls had made any attempts to speak to her. Though she hated to admit it, this knowledge effectively dampened her once exhilarated mood.

The most that she had gotten was a few stares mixed in with some overheard whispers in the hallways, a lot of the comments being ridiculous theories on how Mikoto-senpai had probably shocked her so much that the damaged brain cells caused the memory loss. It seemed that the rumor mill of Tokiwadai middle school was quite extensive and this made her wonder if she actually _wanted _anyone to speak to her if this was the reaction she was garnering.

Apparently someone, Kuroko was guessing one of the teachers, had let it slip that Kuroko's memories were erased causing her to become a hot topic for the girls of Tokiwadai.

Not only that, it seemed that Mikoto-senpai was something of an idol at the school which meant that even without the memory loss, Kuroko would probably still be on the tongues of giggling ojou-sama's with too much leisure and time on their hands.

Kuroko sighed once more as she picked at her pancakes, _Western style breakfast sounded good when I ordered it…_she pushed the plate away and leaned back in the chair, her arms hanging at her side as she stared up at the ceiling blearily,_ however I find my appetite waning. _Since Mikoto-senpai had a violin practice set early in the morning, the older girl regrettably had to skip out on breakfast, which meant that Kuroko to her own devices for the next few hours.

None too surprisingly, Kuroko found herself a bit lonely without the older girl. Though she found the rumors concerning them unsettling and annoying, it did not change the fact that Mikoto-senpai was the one person she felt most comfortable with besides Kamijou-san, whom she only felt a kinship with due to their common circumstances.

Her eyes narrowed into slits as she sat forward once again and rested her cheeks on the knuckles of her propped up hand. Speaking of Kamijou-san, he had not contacted her yet and she was starting to grow a little worried that he never would. Despite the obvious differences in their social statuses, he _was _the only person who understood exactly what she was going through.

Though Mikoto-senpai was sweet and caring in her own way, the older girl could not quite hide the sadness and nostalgia in her eyes whenever she spoke to Kuroko. This in turn made Kuroko equal parts guilty and upset. Their relationship may have fallen into a simple routine the past few days but it was by no means easier.

For example, there were still many things that Kuroko felt the older girl was keeping from her despite Mikoto's firm insistence that she wasn't. Kuroko placed her fork down before reaching over to grab a strawberry and plop it into her mouth. She chewed slowly as she thought about the past few days.

So far, the moments between her and Mikoto-senpai were either embarrassingly awkward or wonderfully meaningful with no in between. She just hoped that things between them would grow comfortable as time went by.

She pushed her plate further away as she stood and sighed once more. Her head hung low as she began walking away from the table only to jolt when she accidentally bumped into someone.

"Ah, my apologies," she started with a light smile and dip of her head before attempting to go around the other girl only to pause when she felt a small hand gripping her arm and sharp nails digging into her wrist.

"Shirai-san, may I have a word?"

"Um," Kuroko hesitated for a moment as she turned and looked around her, noting for the first time that there were at least five girls standing side by side one another and staring at her with not so subtle glares.

A drop of sweat rolled down her cheek, _This…this doesn't seem good…_This was the first time anyone had tried to approach her since the news got out and the dark intent behind the girls words was painfully obvious.

Kuroko smiled as politely as she could manage as she teleported back an inch, so quickly that the girl who was previously holding her hand barely noticed the movements until she was palming at thin air.

"How may I help you, ahh…?" Kuroko tilted her head curiously as she took in the girl standing before her. She was a few inches taller than Kuroko herself, with light green eyes and dark hair. The girl was pretty in the conventional ojou-sama way but the harsh sting to her glare took away any attraction Kuroko may have otherwise felt.

_Wait…attraction? _

"I just wish to speak to you about something in private, Shirai-san. It's imperative that you come with us right now."

Kuroko shook away those thoughts as she straightened up and frowned, _while I do not doubt my ability to teleport out of danger if need be, I still do not think this is a good idea. _She looked around the cafeteria to see if she could get help and immediately noticed that the other girls were either pointedly ignoring her or whispering to one another and pointing.

A heavy sigh escaped her as she looked at the girl in front of her. She could just imagine the types of rumors that would go around if she were to walk away right now. At least this way maybe she could save herself a couple of headaches.

"Alright. Lead the way."

.

.

.

_I should have known it'd go this way _was Kuroko's only thought as she stood with her back flat against a wall while the green eyed, dark haired girl and her posse continued with their lecture.

"—you're probably just faking to get Misaka-sama to feel sorry for you!"

_Really, is this all these girls can come up with? _Kuroko was sure her expression was a cross between disdain and utter indifference. She sighed before gazing off to the side,_ What a bother._

Kuroko frowned as she slowly returned her gaze to green eyed girl, figuring that she was the leader of this ridiculous group attempt at intimidating her, "If I was lying to simply receive Mikoto-senpai's favor then why would I have informed my teachers and the principal of the school?" she attempted to reason only to grimace when the girls around her all scoffed and began talking at once.

"Even if that's true it doesn't change the fact that you're a huge bother to Misaka-sama!"

"Yeah, Misaka-sama is just too nice to put an ill fit girl such as yourself in her place!"

"You're always touching Misaka-sama inappropriately and embarrassing her in public! You should do her and all of us a favor and remove yourself from her presence!"

Kuroko could feel her irritation steadily grow as her eyes hardened. Though every part of her wanted to lash out, she refrained for one simple reason.

There was something Kuroko had noticed in her short time around Mikoto-senpai and it was how the older girl carried herself separately from the crowd. At first Kuroko wasn't sure if it was deliberate or not but after a while it didn't take her long to realize that Mikoto-senpai was held in high regards to the girls in the school.

_So why did it seem like she was lonely?_ This was the one thought on Kuroko's mind after that realization. It didn't seem like Mikoto-senpai had any other friends besides Kuroko herself and it bothered her because she couldn't seem to figure out why.

But now she knew. Right now she was being attacked simply because she associated with Mikoto-senpai and being the kind person that she was, Mikoto-senpai probably noticed what these vicious harpies were up to and made it a point not to interact with anyone to save them the trouble.

This realization only served to further steel Kuroko's resolve. While it was awkward _now, _Kuroko was sure that her friendship with Mikoto was special. Why else would she have endured _this _nonsense on a daily basis?

Kuroko inhaled deeply as she straightened up before releasing a pitying sigh, "Really, who knew that the women of Tokiwadai were so uncouth. To verbally accost a fellow student out of petty jealousy," her eyes were void of interest as she idly gazed at the leader of the group, "how uncivilized. Were you raised in a barn?"

Her words seemed to hit a nerve because all at once the girls began talking.

"How dare you—"

"Really, who do you think you are—"

"Ah hah, it seems my words were right on the mark," Kuroko interrupted with a dull scoff as she placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward, "Did I perhaps ruffle your feathers? That's the only explanation for why you're all squawking at me like a mindless hoard chickens."

"Why you—"

"You won't get away with this!"

Kuroko readied herself, the proper calculations needed in order to teleport passing through her head only to falter when all of the girls all at once stood ram rod straight and fell silent. She frowned as she righted herself as well, her brow rising in confusion when the girls gazed at her with blank expressions.

"My, my, it seems I arrived right when things were about to get interesting."

Kuroko stepped back when the crowd parted and a girl that was not part of the group stepped forward. To Kuroko's shame, her eyes dipped and the first thing she noticed was the other girl's impressive chest.

_W-woah, are those for real? Astounding; she's definitely an upperclassman…wait a moment, why am I noticing another girl's chest in the first place? _

Her cheeks warmed as she tore her eyes away only to hesitantly glance back when she heard the older girl giggle before turning to the crowd and elegantly waving a high tech remote control around, "Why don't you all go eat some sweets. At least ten slices of cake for each girl. Doesn't that sound nice? Go on now, girls."

To Kuroko's astonishment, the girls did as she asked and walked away in uniform. An uneasy feeling settled over her when the older girl finally looked over at her.

_Are those…stars in her eyes? _For some reason, Kuroko felt the urge to take another step back as the girl's lips twisted into an amused smirk. Despite the feeling, Kuroko stood her ground and took in the older girl, from her long blond hair to the white laced gloves and stockings covering slender calves.

"What's this, do you perhaps see something you like, Shirai-san? If you stared any harder I'd feel like you owe me lunch."

"…do we know each other?" Kuroko's asked as her eyes narrowed before placing her hands on her hips, choosing not to rise to the obvious bait.

The older girl's eyes widened in what Kuroko presumed to be surprise before she smirked at her once more, "That's no fun. You know, the least you could do is thank me for helping you out."

Kuroko made sure to keep her eyes steadily trained on the older girl as her head dipped a bit, "Thank you," she mumbled before repeating her earlier question, "do we know each other?"

The older girl released a pretty giggle as she raised a gloved hand to her mouth, "Oh my, you really have a one track mind don't you?" the girl lowered her hand as she smiled at Kuroko, "I simply thought you required assistance and therefore provided some."

Kuroko sighed as her shoulders relaxed a little, though she made sure to stay alert. Something about this girl made her extremely uncomfortable, especially the way she seemed to expertly dodge Kuroko's question.

"While I appreciate the help, ah…?"

"Shokuhou Misaki."

Kuroko nodded as she filed the name away for research later before beginning once more, "While I appreciate the help, Shokuhou-san, I've learned that the girls here don't do anything unless there's an ulterior motive; or are we perhaps friends?" while Kuroko doubted that, she felt there was no harm in asking.

Shokuhou-san giggled once more before clapping her hands together in delight, "I applaud you for your suspicion, Shirai-san. To be honest, I wasn't going to intervene at all but I found something about your responses quite amusing," Shokuhou-san paused before stepping forward, her hands going behind her back as she invaded Kuroko's personal space, "On another note, is it true that you lost all your memories?"

Kuroko grew apprehensive at the question before reluctantly answering, "That is correct; I do not recall anything before July 28th," she stated, finding no need to lie seeing that the knowledge was already spread out throughout the school.

"Interesting," Shokuhou-san's mouth parted as she ran her eyes over Kuroko's face before smiling sweetly, "the mind is a fascinating thing, isn't it? Amazing how it can retain so much knowledge," Shokuhou-san reached forward to brush her finger against Kuroko's temple, "yet still be susceptible to the _smallest_ of influences."

"Um, yes..." Kuroko resisted the urge to step back as she gazed into Shokuhou-san's starry eyes, captivated but at the same time wary.

_She's very pretty but something about her makes me extremely uncomfortable. _

As if hearing what she thought, Shokuhou-san suddenly giggled in amusement before straightening up, "You always seemed like a smart one, Shirai-san, though I had to wonder considering the company you kept. I'm glad to see that I wasn't wrong."

This time Kuroko did step back, "Thank you, I think," _did she read my mind? _

An announcement was made over head, effectively breaking Kuroko's concentration.

"I'll take my leave for now," Shokuhou-san turned to the side as she raised her finger to her mouth, her eyes never wavering from Kuroko's form, "But I'll be sure to keep you in my thoughts, Shirai-san."

_S-scary. _

Shokuhou-san chuckled before walking away but not before calling over her shoulder, "You have a nice day."

"Same to you, Shokuhou-san," Kuroko mumbled halfheartedly as she watched the older girl go, wondering not for the first time just what kind of world she lived in.

_And most importantly, she still did not answer my question. _

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_10:17AM_

Mikoto tapped her arm as she leaned back against the wall next to the classroom where she had her violin lessons. Kuroko was supposed to meet her ten minutes ago but there was still no sign of the younger girl. She could feel her worry steadily growing as each minute ticked by, her eyes never straying far from the clock across the hallway

_What's taking her so long? _Mikoto thought with a frown as she tapped her arm harder, _did something happen? _She was just about to push off the wall to search for her kouhai only to pause and smile when said girl appeared before her.

"Ah, Kuroko, there you are. You're a little late—" she faltered when she noticed the perturbed expression on the younger girl's face.

"Hey, Kuroko?" she waved her hand in front of the younger girl's face before frowning at the lack of reaction.

"Kuroko?" Mikoto asked again, this time stepping forward to loosely grip her kouhai's arm, the contact seemingly shaking Kuroko out of her stupor. The younger girl blinked before smiling at her lightly and shaking her head.

"Ah, my apologies, Senpai, I was lost in my thoughts…"

Brows furrowing, Mikoto tilted her head as she gazed down at the younger girl, wondering what could possibly be on Kuroko's mind before releasing a small sigh when she realized that she probably wouldn't be able to get Kuroko to open up in regards to whatever she was thinking so there was no point in asking

She ran her hand through her bangs as she dropped Kuroko's arm before huffing and turning away, "Fine. C'mon, let's go."

Kuroko frowned when she noticed the slight anger in Mikoto's voice but chose not to comment.

"Okay…"

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_A Certain Underground Mall _

_11:26 AM_

Kuroko looked around at the different models of phones with knit brows before straightening up and glancing around the store. They were supposed to be looking for a new phone to replace Kuroko's broken one but Mikoto-senpai took off as soon as they entered the mall. Kuroko figured it had something to do with the Gekota mascot that was handing out key chains in front of the kids store but she didn't bother to voice her thoughts at the time, knowing that her words would only embarrass her senpai.

Exhaling softly, Kuroko returned her gaze back to varying phones and frowned. She had no idea which one she should buy. She supposed she could order the same model as she had now but honestly the phone was so bothersome to use sometimes because of its compact size that she just didn't know if it was worth it.

As she contemplated her choices, Kuroko barely noticed the form next to her until their hands bumped together when they reached for the same phone.

"Sorry," they both spoke in unison before Kuroko's eyes widened when she locked gazes with familiar blue eyes.

"Kamijou-san!" she exclaimed as she stared up at the boy, caught completely off guard by his sudden appearance. She had been thinking about him on and off for the past couple of days and to have him suddenly appear before was surprising.

"Ah, Shirai-san, hey," Kamijou-san grinned at her crookedly as he lowered his hand from the display case, "Sorry, you go ahead."

"No, no it's fine you can go," she crossed her arms as she frowned up at him. He looked a lot better than when she had last seen him, if not a little tired. The bags under his eyes spoke volumes of the state of his health.

"How are you, Kamijou-san?" Kuroko worriedly asked.

"I'm fine, ah, sorry I haven't called you yet," he scratched the back of his head with a small grin, "as you can see I still don't have a phone"

"Really, that's the first thing you should have taken care of after being released from the hospital," she mumbled with a slightly annoyed huff, her worry fading, "imagine the important calls you might have missed due to your complacency."

"We seem to be in the same boat," Kamijou-san pointed out with a frown, "you shouldn't lecture someone over something you did as well, Shirai-san."

"Gh—I've been extremely busy," she scowled as she glared up at him, "what's your excuse?"

"You think I haven't been busy too?" he sniffed, "You probably wouldn't understand seeing that you're an ojou-sama but do you know how hard it is trying to figure out how to continuously feed a gluttonous nun on a commoners budget?" he held head between his hands as he squeezed his eyes shut, "it's a miracle I haven't gone broke yet."

"I am sorry to hear that," Kuroko stated in a clearly unapologetic tone as she gazed at the older boy indifferently.

"Why do I feel like you could care less?"Kamijou-san sighed as his head hung low, "My first conversation with someone other than Index-san in a week turns out to be with a surly middle schooler. Such misfortune."

Kuroko scowled at him as she stepped forward and pressed a finger into his chest, "Have you ever considered the possibility that your rotten attitude may have contributed to that! Look at you, shopping alone," she scoffed, "How sad."

"Aren't you here by yourself too?" He moved forward as well, crossing his arms as his gaze grew stinging,"If anything, I don't want to hear something like that from you!"

Their foreheads pressed together as they glared at one another before blinking when they heard a cough beside them. They turned to look only to be met with the unimpressed grimace of the store clerk.

"If you two aren't going to buy anything…"

"Oh—we apologize, sir," Kuroko flushed in embarrassment at her behavior as she bowed her head and tugged at Kamijou-san's shirt. He immediately recognized her intent and found himself bowing too.

"Sorry."

The two sighed as he turned away with a shake of his head before glancing at each other from the corners of their eyes. They gazed at each other silently for a moment before they both broke out into smiles and light chuckles.

"Really," Kuroko giggled as she held a hand to her chest, "why is it that every time we meet we get into an argument of some sort?"

Kamijou-san laughed as well, "who knows? Maybe our personalities don't match."

Those words caused both of them to burst into laughter. As of a few days ago, they had no personalities. It was a dark sort of humor but Kuroko appreciated Kamijou-san's attempt to lighten the mood.

"We should really buy something before he kicks us out," Kamijou-san commented pleasantly as he looked around, "which one are you thinking of buying, Shirai-san?"

Kuroko smiled as she picked up a random model and held it up to Kamijou-san's face, "Hm, I suppose this one would suffice—w-why do you suddenly look like you're about to cry?"

"J-j-just how many zeroes are in that price tag?! Do you know how much food I could buy with that kind of money!?"

Kuroko frowned, "Don't have a fit about it now…"

"Shut up! Let me lament on my misfortune in peace!"

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.

.

They emerged from the shop a half hour later, both equipped with their new cellular phones. After thanking the exasperated store clerk for the third time, a tiny sigh escaped Kuroko as she turned towards Kamijou-san once more and held up her phone.

"Let's exchange numbers properly this time, shall we?"

Kamijou-san gave a start, a look of surprise on his face that quickly morphed into a smile as he tapped his phone with hers.

The devices exchanged information and when Kuroko looked down at her screen the name 'Kamijou Touma' popped up along with his address and contact info. Her eyes sparkled with warmth as she smiled up at the boy.

"Make sure you actually call me this time."

"Yes, yes," Kamijou-san grinned as he flipped his phone closed before placing it in his pocket, "alright, I have to go get lunch now," he pointed behind him towards the food court, "do you want to come along?"

"Tempting," Kuroko fiddled with her phone a little as she smiled softly, "but I'm meeting my Senpai in a few minutes so sadly I must decline."

"Your Senpai?" Kamijou-san crossed his arms as he glanced up at the ceiling, his brows furrowing in concentration, "ahh," he raised his finger as if suddenly realizing something, "is that the person who came to visit you while you were in the hospital?"

"Yes. She ran off by herself a while back after coming across something that peaked her interest…" a drop of sweat rolled down her cheek as she thought about what her senpai could possibly be getting up to. _While endearing, her adoration for those childish thing is a bit much…_

"I see," he ran a hand through his spiky dark hair before shrugging; "I'll call you later then, Shirai-san. Hopefully we'll meet under better circumstances than our first encounter," he finished with a smirk.

"I can only hope. After all, how much trouble can one possibly get into in Academy City?" she finished jokingly and waved as he walked away. She watched him go with a cheerful smile before looking back when she heard her name called by a familiar voice.

"Senpai, you're back," she beamed as she turned to face the older girl fully, faltering a little when she noticed the stuffed Gekota plushie in the older girl's arms, "and I see you brought a friend…"

Red shaded Mikoto's cheeks as she held the stuffed animal to her chest before looking around in embarrassment, "they were having a sale," she mumbled, "its limited edition…"

"I see," Kuroko giggled as she strode over to the older girl, ducking her head so that she could greet the stuffed animal properly, "Hello, Mr. Gekota;" her voice softened considerably, "I think you'll enjoy living with Mikoto-senpai. She's very sweet and takes good care of the things she considers hers," she sighed after a moment before glancing up at the older girl, her brows rising when she noticed the taken aback expression on Mikoto's face.

Her cheeks grew warm when she realized what she just said and tugged at her ear lobe as she straightened up, "w-what?"

"Uh," Mikoto blinked as she seemingly snapped out of her stupor before releasing a self conscious laugh and turning away, "Nothing, um, did you get the phone yet?"

"Ahh, yes!" Kuroko clumsily reached into her pocket then, grateful for the change of topic as she pulled out her phone and held it up, "all of my old contacts are still on here it's just a different design."

"Oh," Mikoto's cheeks were still red as her eyes flickered from the phone and back towards the ground, "w-well it's nice. Anyways, let's go. We still have to meet Uiharu-san and Saten-san for lunch."

"That's right," Kuroko raised a finger to her chin as her brows furrowed, her embarrassment slowly fading, "we're meeting Uiharu's new roommate, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I hope she's nice," Kuroko commented offhandedly as they began walking towards the exit, "it'll be great to have some normality in our lives."

"Mm," Mikoto expression grew melancholic as she gripped the plushie tighter to her chest, "Yeah. It would be."

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_A Certain Hospital _

_August 9__th_

_6:47 PM_

Kuroko sighed heavily as she walked through the winding hallways of the hospital

The first week of August was full of more drama than she had initially been expecting. Not only did she end up having to fight a gang of bitter level 0's with the ability to render all Esper powers useless with a special machine but she also had to face a large group of men in military issued battle suits and a deranged scientist attempting to destroy Academy City by using comatose children to awaken the fabled Level 6.

She never thought she could go through so much in only a week. Despite that, the reason she was in the hospital at this time had nothing to do with her. Kuroko found that she was surprisingly durable; her injuries following the wake of the battle were minor and the few scrapes and bruises she developed were already healing.

The reason she was in the hospital this time had to do with certain boy, who she had been unable to get in contact with earlier because all that was happening in her life. When she reached his door she sighed once more before knocking and entering the room without waiting for an answer.

Kamijou-san was sitting on the bed flipping through a magazine with one hand. His right arm was in a cast and held up with a sling. When Kamijou-san noticed her, he smiled at her weakly before raising his uninjured hand.

"Yo."

"We have got to stop meeting like this," Kuroko shook her head with an bemused smile, "Really, Kamijou-san, hospitalized twice in less than a month; are you trying to set a new record?"

"…and here we have Shirai-san, here for less than a minute and already lecturing," Kamijou-san said to himself before releasing a loud sigh, "Can our hero Kamijou-san ever catch a break?"

"I would not have to lecture you if you could refrain from getting hurt," Kuroko gritted her teeth as her aggravation suddenly skyrocketed; "sadly I feel that this will become a habit for you."

"I suppose the answer to my earlier question is, 'No', then. Such misfortune."

Kuroko rubbed her temples as she inhaled deeply, trying to reign in her annoyance. She gave herself a moment to collect her bearings before opening her eyes and frowning over at Kamijou-san, who was smiling at her lightly.

She breathed out through her nose before smiling and placing her hand on her waist, "what happened this time?" she asked as she walked over to his bed, "did you perhaps trip down some steps and dislocate your shoulder while rushing to get to a sale at the market?"

Kamijou-san laughed at that, "If only it were that simple," he mused as his eyes followed her movements. He rested his head back against his propped up pillow and grinned, "at least I would have gotten a meal out of it."

Kuroko snorted at his words before sitting down at the chair next to his bedside. She noticed the empty plate on the desk beside the bed before turning her attention back towards him. She regarded him solemnly, "what happened?"

Losing his smile, Kamijou-san gazed down at his bed sheets before releasing a deep sigh, "it's a long story."

"I have a moment," she stated as she reached forward to place her hand on top of his, "and you _can _trust me, Kamijou-san. After all," her lips twitched up into a small grin, "I am already holding one of your secrets close to heart."

Kamijou-san's eyes widened at her words before he smiled gratefully, "I know…alright, I'll tell you. But trust me when I say it sounds crazy, even for us.

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Ten minutes passed and Kuroko spent a majority of that time absorbing what Kamijou-san just told her. Apparently a 'failed' magician and former member of the Roman Catholic Church by the name of Aureolus Izzard became an alchemist and used his powers to imprison a girl with the ability to kill Vampires, the ability name 'Deep Blood', at Misawa Cram school. But not before massacring several Christian sects that had attempted to go after him to collect the large bounty on his head.

And he did all of this for the sake of the girl Kamijou-san himself had lost all for to save.

As far as they knew, Aurelous Izzard was 'gone' but not dead and off somewhere suffering a fate worse than death. It all sounded fantastical, borderline insane to her but Kuroko found herself believing him.

To put it simply, she was placing her trust him this boy who shared the same fate as her and _chose _to believe him. She had a feeling that there was something he was keeping to himself but that was okay. Right now, this was enough. The faith he instilled in her was enough.

However, something else was bugging her…

"You know, you once again risked your life to save a complete stranger," she pointed out in a slightly confused voice, "I do not understand; why you would so something like that again?"

Kamijou-san gazed at her in surprise for a few seconds before smiling contently and shrugging, "I didn't particularly fight for one person. There were many things I couldn't agree with in this situation; therefore I did what I could to stop him. It's really as simple as that."

_Still…_Kuroko stared at him with passive eyes, unsure how to respond positively to his words,_ is he some kind of martyr? Why is he so willing to die for people he barely knows? Honestly…_

_How ridiculous._

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* * *

**AN2**: **As you can see, I skipped over the Poltergeist Arc and the Big Spider Arc. I'll be doing that with a few Raildex arcs and most likely mention them in passing. Sorry to anyone who loves those two arcs though! Wanted to bring Kuroko and Touma together as soon as I could. See you next time! and I sincerely hope you all enjoyed **


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Osu~how are you all doing? Well I hope. I've been watching dangan ronpa for the past few days really enjoying it. I have a q—how are you guys who are watching enjoying the Silent Party arc? A lot of people were super pissed that Mikoto was open with her friends involving the darkness. I personally don't see why it's such a big deal. **

**Anyways, things are about to kick off as, you guessed it, the Sisters Arc (Index side) is about to begin! **

**On another note, I'm looking for a beta. A good beta who responds fast. Any volunteers? You can PM if you're interested. You guys keep cranking out those reviews and I'll keep cranking out these long chapters.**

**Answering questions:**

**Metroidvania**: Ehh I love long reviews! They really get me going and make me want to finish the chapter faster so thank you for your insight. I have up to New Testament (the sequel of the Index novels) planned for this story so I hope you stick around to see the challenges and obstacles Kuroko and Mikoto have to face in regards to their relationship. Touma will play an essential role in their development as well but not in the way some people may think. As for how well adjusted Kuroko is after losing her memory I think she's like Touma in the sense that she's depressed about it but not going to let it keep her down and she's especially not going to let her friends know how she really feels. She doesn't want to worry them. Also I have a few outtakes from previous chapters that explore Kuroko's development along with her involvement with Mikoto and the girls however they didn't flow right in the main story if that makes sense? I'll be posting those as I update. Thanks again for the review!

**Burning-Wulf**: you got your wish friend! The sisters arc is about to begin : )

**IdaPhantomhive**: heh jealousy will play a big role in Mikoto's development.

**Draco the Spirit Dragon**: Because it's not! :p

**xxBakaAkki** : I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so much I really enjoy writing it and sharing it with you guys. I'm glad you caught the hints they were so much fun to write!

**ImagineBreaker7:** truly look forward to your reviews. What can I say, I just wanna impress ya :p. I hope you enjoy my adaption of the Sisters Arc

To everyone else, thank you so much for your kind reviews. I'll be answering questions from now on.

* * *

Chapter 5

Hollow State (Experiment)

_Tokiwdai Exterior Dorms_

_August 20__th_

In the past few weeks, Shirai Kuroko learned she was a lot of things. A hardworking student at the top of her class, a diligent member of Judgment who had steadily but impressively climbed through the ranks in just a few years, and a private person with few but cherished friends.

However, that still did not change the fact that there was a gap in her mind where her memories should be and an overall feeling of emptiness that she attempted to smother only for it to persist and rear its head at the most inconvenient of moments.

The only time she truly felt at peace was when she was with Mikoto-senpai and those moments were fleeting at best. The growing distance between the two was prevalent in the past week or so. At first, Kuroko had believed that Mikoto was pulling away because the grief from essentially "losing" her best friend weighed heavily on her heart.

It wasn't long before Kuroko realized that something more sinister was at play. It wasn't the desperation dulling her senpai's pretty brown eyes that worried her though. It was the complete and utter defeat that shadowed Mikoto's face the last time Kuroko saw her that truly scared her.

Whatever it was that Mikoto was involved with was deep. It was deep, ugly and horrifying. It plagued Mikoto with nightmares, the girls whimpering keeping Kuroko up most nights, feeling utterly useless, unable to do anything to help the one person who made her feel good about everything; who knew her for who she was and accepted the person she had become.

Mikoto may have been grieving about losing "her" Kuroko but she never treated the "new" Kuroko unkindly. She was sweet and kind; she tried to take care of her and talk to her like everything was normal.

It made Kuroko's heart ache.

_She really is my best friend…_Kuroko buried her head in the top of her pillow as a few tears escaped, _it's deplorable that I am not any use to her. _

It had been a day since Mikoto had been home and guilt was the only thing keeping Kuroko from going out to look for her. While everything inside Kuroko screamed for her to find a way to help the girl she held back out of respect for Mikoto's privacy. Whatever it was she was dealing with she obviously didn't want Kuroko or their friends involved.

So she held back; lied to their friends and the dorm supervisor about her whereabouts. Told herself that everything was okay when in reality nothing was right. Her only solace was the company of a certain boy. She didn't have to lie and pretend like nothing was wrong when she was with him.

They shared a common misfortune. And while she trusted him he still didn't _know _her or her life. They could hang out every few days and then go their separate ways feeling content in the 2knowledge that there was someone on their side who understood them.

Kamijou-san was her solace. Mikoto-senpai was her savior.

They were the two people in the world who she felt closest to.

And yet she knew nothing about them.

Kuroko could only hope that someday soon that would change.

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_District 7_

6:10PM

"I still cannot believe that you have to take summer classes," Kuroko shook her head as she walked beside Kamijou Touma down the street towards his dorm.

The crowds were starting to dwindle as the day drew into evening, only a few students out at this time. Most were returning from supplementary classes while others were meeting up with friends for last minute hang outs.

The reason they were out was because of the former. Kamijou-san had called Kuroko on his way home from class asking her if she wanted to hang out for a bit before the day was up and curfew. She had readily agreed, hoping that a few hours out would make her feel a little better.

"It's not my fault!" Kamijou-san practically whined as his shoulders drooped, "I wasn't even the one who skipped yet I'm the one who has to deal with consequences. How is that fair?"

Due to a certain incident that occurred during the week of July 28th, Kamijou Touma had missed the first term of summer classes and therefore had to participate in the second term or face possibly repeating his first year. It was a situation truly full of misfortune.

They stopped at a nearby vending machine.

"You should look at this as an opportunity, Kamijou-san," Kuroko rested her hand on her waist as she turned to face him, "you could use some normality in your life."

Kamijou-san released a long suffering sigh, "Something normal would be playing video games or watching TV. Going to summer school classes isn't something I want to include in _my _normal."

A small smile tweaked the corner of Kuroko's lips as she gazed up at him with a slightly amused expression, "for goodness sakes…" she mumbled as she slowly shook her head.

Kamijou-san grinned at her a little before clearing his throat, "it's kind of hot, huh?" his smile widened, "I'll buy you something to drink."

Blinking in surprise, Kuroko released a small chuckle before smirking, "oh, are you sure you can afford it? You're always complaining about being short on cash."

"I'll have you know that while this Kamijou-san is often hard pressed for money that he can still afford to treat a girl every now and then."

Kuroko looked on with a rather unimpressed stare, "and just how many girls do you "treat" on a daily basis? With your common looks I doubt it's many."

An embarrassed blush spread out across Kamijou-san's face as he pulled out at 2,000 yen bill from his wallet, "Well, I can still get you a drink. It's the least I could do for a friend."

The word 'friend' struck a chord in Kuroko's heart and she found herself softening at the statement, "Thank you—wait, you don't plan on putting that entire bill in the machine do you?" she asked while gazing at said object skeptically.

The machine looked like a standing malfunction with the many dents in it.

"Hm?"

She wanted to face palm; as she was talking Kamijou-san had already inserted the bill and pressed a button. A long moment passed in which Kuroko watched Kamijou-san slowly but surely start to panic. The machine had eaten his money without spitting out any drinks in return.

"What's wrong with this thing? Don't tell me—n-no way! Did it eat my money?" Kamijou-san practically screamed as he jiggled the money return level over and over again but to no avail, "Such misfortune!"

This time Kuroko did cover her face, embarrassment and pity flowing through her as she shook her head, "I tried to tell you…" Kuroko trailed off with a sigh as she lowered her hand only for her eyes to widen in surprise with the arrival of an unexpected figure.

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Misaka Mikoto was stained with blood; it seeped through her pores. It sunk into her skin and she could taste it in the back of her mouth; metallic, she choked on it.

Her little sisters, those girls who were brought into this world for the sole purpose of being violently taken from it, their cries echoed in her head. The guilt she felt was overwhelming and she would never be free from it.

But still…the experiment was over. Those girls, those naïve girls who didn't understand their worth were free. Never again did they have to die at the whim of monsters.

Never again.

Mikoto clenched her fist as she stared up into the sky. With all research facilities destroyed, she could now move forward. She could finally go home.

None to surprisingly, Kuroko's face was the first to pop up in her head. Her eyes softened as her hands loosened and a small smile appeared. When she was out fighting for her life and the lives of those girls, the knowledge that her friends and more specifically Kuroko waiting home for enough to keep her going.

Even as she was starving herself, unable to keep food down because of the nausea and sleeping because she was too exhausted, too weak to stay awake, her friends were a constant on her mind. They kept her going. They kept her strong.

The old Kuroko may essentially be gone but in so ways she was still the same. She encouraged Mikoto to do what she needed to do and stood by her side, quietly waiting for her return. Even though she never mentioned it, Mikoto noticed the bags under Kuroko's eyes during those times she actually made it home. She knew that Kuroko was covering for her with their friends and the dorm supervisor. Though these were small things, it was enough for Mikoto.

It made her heart warm despite the cold and the blood and the pain that constantly threatened to rip her apart. What happened in the past, those girls' deaths; they would always hold a piece of her.

She would never allow herself to forget. She would keep their memory alive and continue forward. No one would ever have to die again because of her.

They could live.

Taking a deep breath, Mikoto continued forward through the park, her heart, while still heavy with grief, lifting with each step she took. Nothing would ever truly be okay again but things could be better. She'd never let them down again.

Mikoto slowed her gait when she came across a familiar vending machine. Her eyes widened in surprise when she noticed who was standing there, fiddling with said machine only for them to narrow in confusion and unease when she saw who he was standing with.

Something clenched in her gut and her hands curled into fist when she saw that idiot turn towards her kouhai. She watched the two of them talk for a few minutes before noticing that Kuroko had turned in her direction.

All at once, she was hit by varying feelings at the emotion she could see shining so clearly in Kuroko's eyes. Her throat went dry as she clenched her hands into fist and walked over to the two. Kuroko looked up at that idiot with an exceptionally mellow expression and Mikoto could only feel her confusion grow. What was her kouhai doing with that guy? How long have they known each other? How did they meet?

And most importantly, what crap was he spewing about her in her kouhai's ear. If he told her about all those times they had gotten into fights only for Mikoto to lose every time...

She raised her voice as she jogged over to the two "Oi! Just what do you think you're doing with her?"

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"Senpai?" Kuroko's brows furrowed at the sight of the older girl. This was the first time she had seen her in nearly 24 hours and she was surprised by the agitated expression on Mikoto's face.

She glanced up at Kamijou-san once again, who was scratching the back of his head and looking at Mikoto blankly.

Mikoto stopped in front of them and glared at Kamijou-san darkly before looking over at Kuroko, "Kuroko, is this idiot bothering you?" she asked, vile in her tone. Kuroko blinked in surprise; never had she heard her senpai so angry before.

Kamijou-san rubbed the back of his neck as he eyed Mikoto skeptically, "and just who are you, pal?"

Tiny white and blue sparks started flicking from Mikoto's hair at the question and Kuroko felt a drop of sweat roll down her cheek at the sight of it, unsure why her senpai was acting out.

"How many times do I have to tell you," Mikoto's voice was low with an underlying hint of anger as she clenched her shaking fists, "that my name is Misaka Mikoto remember it for once you fucking idiot!"

As she shouted Mikoto released a pale spark from her bangs.

Kamijou-san lifted his right hand instinctively as he stepped in front of Kuroko and negated her lightning shock. A few seconds passed as shock passed through Kuroko at the random attack, wondering what exactly Kamijou-san did to warrant such abuse.

_S-so does she know him? _Kuroko looked between the two, noting the irritated expression on her senpai's face and the disturbed on one Kamijou-san's._ Though I'm not sure if that's actually a good thing._

On another note, this was the first time that she had actually seen Kamijou-san's power at work and she found it impressive to say the least. To be able to dispel such an attack and automatically at that…

_Interesting. _

Clearing her throat, Kuroko took this time to speak up as she stepped around Kamijou-san and cautiously approached the older girl, "ah, Senpai, you shouldn't attack people without warning…"

Mikoto huffed as she looked towards her, her gaze full of irritation, "well if he wasn't such an idiot then I wouldn't have to," the older girl glared at Kamijou-san once again, "why are you with this guy anyways, Kuroko? Hey," brown eyes darkened, "if I find out you were hitting on her I'll fry you."

"Not that it's any of your business but," Kamijou-san looked exhausted as shook his hand weakly before he straightened up and placed said hand on his waist, "I'm not into little girls like Shirai."

Anger suddenly sprang forth in Kuroko as she spun on her heel and hissed, her pigtails practically rippling in displeasure, "Like I would be into a commoner like Kamijou-san!"

The two glowered at one another which in turn caused Mikoto's brow to raise in suspicion. She felt her stomach curl discomfort for some reason and she stomped down that feeling as she gritted her teeth.

"How long have you two known each other?" she frowned as she regarded Kuroko with stormy eyes, "you never mentioned him before, Kuroko."

A hint of panic entered Kamijou-san's eyes and Kuroko quickly realized that if they didn't word this right, Mikoto would find out about Kamijou-san's involvement in her memory loss and she doubted that the boy would be able to withstand the full extent of the Mikoto's guaranteed anger.

"We actually just met a few days ago, Mikoto-senpai," she started as she flicked her gaze between the two and licked her lips, a tiny smile turning her mouth upwards, "there was this group of thugs and—"

"Let me guess, this idiot stepped in when he wasn't needed and tried to play hero?" Mikoto asked disdainfully as she scoffed before narrowing her eyes at him and clenching her fist, "just how many girls have you used that trick on, you bastard? Disgusting."

"Actually," Kuroko placed a calming hand on the older girl's shoulder as she smiled awkwardly, "he was running away from his pursuers and I helped him escape," Kuroko glanced over at Kamijou-san with a slight smile, "though it seems that Kamijou-san's habit of meddling in other people's business is well known."

Kamijou-san released a heavy sigh as his arms hung at his side. He appeared even more exhausted in that moment, "just what kind of guy do you take me for, Shirai-san?"

Kuroko couldn't help but smirk, "The worst kind."

"Hey!"

Mikoto's frown deepened as she watched her kouhai joke around with her rival. Their interactions were friendly and their dialogue seemed natural enough, like they were use to arguing with one another. Mikoto wasn't sure how she felt about that but taking into account her absence in the past few days she supposed she couldn't fault Kuroko for growing close to someone other than her. Not that she approved or liked it in the slightest.

Sighing, Mikoto ruffled her hair as she turned towards the vending machine and placed her palm upon it before smiling despondently, "well, whatever. I guess its fine for now…" she whispered

Kuroko's ears perked up as she heard the last of Mikoto's sentence and she turned towards the older girl curiously. Taking note of her senpai's bent over form, Kuroko found herself frowning and taking an involuntary step forward.

Before she could reach out towards her once more, Mikoto straightened up and gave an uncharacteristically friendly smile, "I won't lose," she said as she gazed into Kuroko's eyes before glancing up towards Kamijou-san, "No sneak attacks. I'll beat you fair and square," Mikoto promised as a grin formed on her face.

It was almost as if question marks had formed around Kamijou-san's head as he nodded dumbly before muttering a monotonous, "okay?"

Kuroko was a little confused as well but Mikoto seemed satisfied enough by his response. The girls eyes softened considerably as she returned her attention to Kuroko, "so what were you two doing?" she looked around the park with disinterestedly, "I mean, there's not much to do around here."

"Umm," Kuroko licked her lips, decided to ignore her confusion for now and focus on the situation at hand, "we were stopping to buy something to drink but it seems that this machine is a bit of an antique."

"Ah, well, with this machine there's a certain way to get what you want," Mikoto stated as she palmed the back of her neck and stretched it to the side.

"And what way is—eh!" Kuroko nearly jumped back as Mikoto spun around and swiftly gave the machine a roundhouse kick. The girls skirt flapped in the air and Kuroko cringed at the sight of what was underneath.

_W-woah! She wears shorts under her skirt! How come I have never noticed that before? _

For reasons that she couldn't possibly begin to explain, Kuroko felt her maiden heart break. From behind her, Kamijou-san stared horrified at what he just witnessed. Whether it was the heart wrenching reveal of her senpai's dressing habits or the fact that the older girl had mercilessly delivered such a blow to an untimely target, Kuroko wouldn't know.

Mikoto popped open her can of apple cider and drank a sizeable gulp. As she released a satisfied breath she rested her hand on her waist as she idly gazed back over at the two slack jawed teens.

"If you don't close your mouths you'll attract flies," Mikoto pointed out simply as she took another sip.

Kuroko didn't know how to react; her mind could not comprehend what she was seeing. Her kind, reliable Senpai was acting like a common delinquent. Attacking students randomly, stealing from the vending machines… a variety of emotions flowed through her but all she could really get out was a stumbling string of words, "Senpai—you just—I," she pointed towards the vending machine and then back towards Mikoto wildly, "I do not even know—"

"You!" Kuroko jolted as Kamijou-san unexpectedly shouted, "tell me, how many of you damn brats have done this? Is there just a gang of delinquent girls stealing juice from vending machines!?"

The despair Kuroko could hear in Kamijou-san's voice was understandable.

"What do you care?" Mikoto scowled, "it's not like what we do directly affects you. Unless," a gleeful expression crossed Mikoto's face as she grinned, "Did it eat your money?"

Kamijou-san slowly turned his head to the side and Mikoto burst out laughing at his slouched over form, "it did, didn't it! Tell me, how much did you lose?"

"…2,000 yen."

"2,000 yen!? Did you really put 2,000 yen in! Seriously? Hahah, so people like you do still exist!"

"Senpai…" Kuroko sighed as she shook her head slowly at the older girl's antics before smiling tenderly, _at least she seems happier now. It's good to see her smiling. _

"Shut up!" Kamijou-san shouted as held his head between his hands which made Mikoto laugh harder.

"Oh man, I really needed that," Mikoto wiped at her eyes as she giggled before straightening up and placing her hand over the coin slot, "anyways, since you've been taking such good care of my kouhai I'll get it back for you."

"Um," Kuroko took an uneasy step back, "I have a bad feeling about this…"

Her suspicions were soon confirmed as a pale lightning strike lashed out at the machine and black smoke started to rise from the drink slot.

"Huh, that's weird," Mikoto muttered with a frown as several cans of started popping out of the machine. She smiled at them easily as she shrugged, "well, your money didn't come out but these drinks should make up for it—hey what are you running away for!?"

As Mikoto was speaking, Kamijou-san had grabbed Kuroko's hand and dragged her along with him as he broke out into a sprint in the other direction.

"W-wait, Kamijou-san! Not so fast!" Kuroko nearly lost her balance several times as he pulled her harder.

Kamijou-san ignored her as he huffed and ran full speed ahead, "I should've known this would happen! Ahh, such misfortune!"

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Kamijou-san and Kuroko finally arrived at a bench that was a little away from the vending machine. Kamijou-san released her as he huffed and inhaled deeply before collapsing on the bench.

"Somehow I got away…" Kamijou-san sighed heavily, dead tired as he stared up at the sky and the blimp passing by, "how do I always end up in these situations?"

Kuroko released a light sigh as she sat besides Kamijou-san, "you didn't have to run at full speed, Kamijou-san," she mumbled as she frowned at him. He sniffed weakly before looking at her miserably.

"So, what's up with that? That girl was your senpai right? I thought you said she was nice."

Kuroko bristled as she crossed her arms and glared at the boy "She_ is _nice! Mikoto-senpai is incredibly sweet and reliable! I do not know why she was acting that way but you must have done something to her in the past to illicit such a response."

Sighing, Kamijou-san leaned back as he spread his arms out on the top of bench, "well, whatever. It's not like I remember it either way."

Before Kuroko could respond, Mikoto appeared before them holding several cans on her school bag and eyeing them in a disgruntled manner.

"Why are you running away? And with my kouhai for that matter," her eyes narrowed on him in annoyance, "and to think that I got you two thousand yen worth of drinks. Here," she held the drink up before tossing it at him and repeating the process.

Kamijou-san caught them with a weary look in his eye, "you really didn't have to—ow! Why the hell is hot shiruko mixed in with them!?"

"I can't choose what comes out," Mikoto stated with an important huff before taking a seat next to Kamijou-san and crossing one leg over the other, "just be grateful that you got your money's worth," she sighed deeply, "you know, for such a strong guy you sure do run away a lot."

"Eh?"

Kuroko's brows furrowed at her senpai's words. What exactly did she mean by that? She looked questionably at Kamijou-san who had an expression of bewilderment on his face.

"Why are you sporting such a dumb expression? I don't get it," Mikoto sighed, "I can admit that I'm really strong yet you best me every time. _Me. _One of the 7 level 5's in this city. But every time I see you you're always running away from a group of idiots whom might as well be comparable to a pack of Chihuahua's when it comes to power level." another tiny sigh escaped her, "it's humiliating. The least you can do is own up to your strength. For my reputation's sake."

Questions popped up in Kuroko's head at this and the urge to give voice to them was almost overwhelming. Was Mikoto letting slip some of the remnants of Kamijou-san's past? She continued watching him in puzzlement, wondering if he was as interested in Mikoto-senpai's words as she was.

And yet, another more important issue was bugging her and she moved close to Kamijou-san's ear to whisper, "picking fights middle school girls? Just what kind of freak were you?" disapprovingly.

Kamijou-san looked close to tears at those words so she decided to let him off the hook and looked towards Mikoto as she placed her hands on his thighs and leaned towards the older girl, "you fight often with Kamijou-san then, Senpai?" she asked, sounding wholly unimpressed despite how much she attempted to appear otherwise.

Mikoto sniffled in a prideful manner at her question, "not really. It's just whenever I happen to see this guy he just pisses me off and well," Mikoto gazed up at the sky thoughtfully, "he does give me the chance to practice my techniques. So…well, haha, I guess so," she finished with a grin as she scratched the back of her head bashfully.

_Really, how childish does one have to be? _Kuroko wondered with a sneer as she moved away from Kamijou-san and sat back in her chair. She crossed her arms as she looked off towards the side, ignoring Kamijou-san's curious glance towards her and focusing on her current train of thought. It seemed that Mikoto-senpai had a close relationship with Kamijou-san which she probably shouldn't have minded but for some reason it made her feel…uneasy?

She couldn't explain why it did but it bothered her.

A lot.

_But even so…_Kuroko's eyes darkened as she stared down at the ground, _even so, she looks happy right now. Happier than she has in days,_ she subtly glanced back towards them before sighing in defeat.

"I suppose I'll take my leave for today if you two don't mind," Kuroko dusted off her skirt as she stood up, aware of the twin gazes following her movements. She smiled reassuringly as she looked over at Mikoto, "Will I see you tonight, senpai?"

"Ah…" Mikoto blinked, "yeah! I'll be home soon," she stood up as well and gazed into Kuroko's eyes softly, "I promise."

Nodding at Mikoto's words, Kuroko turned towards Kamijou-san and reached down to pick up an ice coffee from between his thighs, "I shall contact you later, Kamijou-san. Let's meet up again soon, yes?"

Kamijou-san stared up at her with an unreadable expression for a few seconds before smiling, "I'll call you."

Kuroko inclined her head towards him in a nod before frowning at Mikoto, "on that note, please be sure to not damage any more property, Senpai. There is only so much that you can get away with."

"Gh—lecturing me even as you go, huh?"

"I'm simply concerned for your wellbeing, Mikoto-senpai," she muttered importantly before her lips curled up into a small smile, "I'll stay up until you get home."

Mikoto seemed taken aback by her comment before looking down as a small blush spread out along her cheeks, "okay."

Kuroko felt something in her lift at Mikoto's shy expression and she smiled brightly at Kamijou-san before teleporting away.

She teleported through the city before landing in front of a random store. She held her hands to her chest as her heart soared. Kuroko gazed up towards the sky and watched as another blimp float by and thought about the lack of desperation in Mikoto's eyes.

It seemed like everything was back to normal and whatever it was that was bothering her senpai was taken care of. She could finally allow herself to relax a little.

She could finally let herself breathe.

Kuroko inhaled deeply as her brows furrowed and she looked back towards the ground before her hand tightened in her shirt, _Things are going to be okay… _her eyes softened, _Right Senpai?_

However, what Kuroko didn't realize at that time was that her part in Mikoto's ongoing nightmare was about to begin.

And things were going to get a lot worse before they got better.

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**AN2: always guys hope you enjoyed. If anyone is wondering, I used Railgun S, Index episode 10 (I think) and volume 3 of the Index novel as reference for this chapter. Til next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: The season finale of Railgun S was so awesome, more than I could have hoped for to be honest. I'm really happy about it, especially all of the mikokuro which J.C. Staff has been spoiling us with heh. First of all, I would like to thank Cun-sensei for giving me some pointers for this chapter. Please read and review.**

**Answering questions below:**

**Fortis499**: Hello, hi thank you for the review! As stated in the authors note of chapter 1, this will be Mikoto/Kuroko romance and Touma/Kuroko friendship.

**The Darkbringer**: love triangle? Heh maybe in a sense. But you'll see what I mean in future chapters.

**Metroidvania**: Thank you for another long review! You know how much I love them I see heh. Ah wouldn't that be fantastic? 20,000 plus clones all in love with Kuroko, I would pay good money to see that. but you're right, the clones won't have to steer clear of Kuroko this time around and hey maybe we'll see some adorable interaction between Kuroko and a few of them. However that won't be for a while now…

**TheGaarth**: Thank you for the compliments! As you know, all the support is truly appreciated. As for you question, unfortunately I do not plan on having Kuroko and Touma romantically involved. Despite the fact that her mind is wiped, I consider Kuroko a lesbian and Touma is an honorable fellow and wouldn't be romantically interested in a girl so much younger than him. However, the feelings that Kuroko and Touma develop for one another, while they may not be romantic, are extremely strong. They will be strong and somewhat intense and they will be special to one another in a way that doesn't need romantic connotations in order to be meaningful. I hope that you will stick around to see exactly what I mean by this.

**Dark0w1**: I do have to wonder what Kuroko will think of Touma's harem! Seeing as of right now she doesn't think much of him, especially in terms of looks.

**xxBakaAkki**: your review made me think a lot and I realized that you were completely right. Kuroko doesn't show up much in the novels which gives me a wide scope in imagining what exactly she's up to while Mikoto is off helping Touma with his adventures. Because of your review, I decided to change how Kuroko ends up at her final destination. She's her own person so it'll be interesting to see things in her point of view instead of having her standing directly beside Touma or Mikoto (though in some instances she will be doing just that! mostly because it'll be unavoidable.) thank you for your words you really inspired me this time around.

**61wisampa**: out of the loop!Mikoto is going to be an ongoing theme in this fic so get ready for a bumpy ride!

**PML7:** The sisters arc precedes the same with a few tweaks here and there. You'll see what I mean after reading the chapter!

**IdaPhantomhive: **hehhh I can only imagine Kuroko's reaction to finding out she use to be in love with Mikoto. No one has had the nerve to bring it up to her yet but we should see it soon!

**Draco the Spirit Dragon**: The romantic/sexual tension between them will always be apparent even though instead of Mikoto being unaware of it, they both are! I think it'll definitely lead to some fun situations.

To everyone else, thank you so much for your reviews. Sending virtual love and hugs to all of you. Thank you for supporting me through this. It's your kind words that keep me inspired to continue writing.

**chapter dedication**: my new beta Touzen for enthusiastically tackling through the challenge that is my writing.

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Chapter 6

Level 6 Shift (Sisters)

_Tokiwadai's Exterior Dorms_

_August 20th _

_8:32PM_

Kuroko stepped into her dorm room with a sigh. Looking around, she saw that it was, of course, empty. Despite knowing that she would be the first one home, Kuroko couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that Mikoto wasn't there to greet her. With another small sigh, she closed the door behind her.

She took off her shoes in the entry way and walked over to her bed before falling face forward onto the sheets. She covered a tiny yawn with her hand before curling her fingers into her pillow.

Kuroko spent a few minutes tossing and turning before she sat up with a frustrated huff. Her earlier elation had dampened. Though everything with Mikoto-senpai seemed okay, an overwhelming sense of dread kept Kuroko from being able to relax.

Despite how happy Mikoto appeared earlier, something told her that whatever problem her senpai was dealing with was far from over. It had been naïve of her to think the situation had been taken care of when she didn't even have any proof.

She stared up at the ceiling as her mind wandered back to that afternoon; Mikoto had seemed so cheerful talking to Kamijou-san. How she was able to let loose with him like that and held nothing back, never once concerning herself with the consequences; she never thought she'd find herself envying Kamijou-san.

Mikoto's behavior had been appalling, yet something about it had appealed to her. Her senpai had never shown that side of herself to Kuroko before. For Mikoto to be able to be so frank, open and honest with Kamijou-san…it made Kuroko a little sad.

_I still don't know anything about her do I?_

The sound of the lock rattling roused Kuroko from her thoughts and she shifted her gaze to the door before scrambling from her bed. She planned to greet Mikoto with a smile only to falter at the melancholy that lingered about her senpai's face. Mikoto looked at her with empty eyes and Kuroko felt her breath catch.

"Ah, Kuroko…sorry, I'm a little late." There was a slight quiver in Mikoto's voice as she lowered her eyes back towards the ground. Mikoto smiled a little. "There was this item I was trying to buy, but by the time I got to the store it was sold out."

A small watery laugh escaped Mikoto's throat and Kuroko swallowed back the sudden urge to cry. Straightening up, Kuroko cleared her throat. "It's okay, Senpai, I only returned home a few moments ago myself…" Frowning, she took a hesitant step forward. "Senpai, I—"

"Sorry, Kuroko," Mikoto interrupted with a small smile. "I'm kind of tired and I feel gross too. I think I'm going to shower." She moved past Kuroko and towards the bathroom. "I don't feel like dealing with the dorm mistress tonight. If you could please handle that I'd be grateful. Thanks."

Kuroko flinched as Mikoto slammed the bathroom door shut. Her shoulders dropped about six inches, Longing like she had never felt before coursed through her. And mixed in with that longing was a stifling feeling of uselessness. More than anything, she wanted to be of help to Mikoto; yet she also didn't want to burden her more than she already had. She couldn't even provide Mikoto comfort without falling short.

A minuscule part of Kuroko thought it would be best to simply wait things out. To trust that Mikoto knew what she was doing and that she could handle the situation. She thought that it was the right thing to do. That her role was to silently support Mikoto and not be a hindrance to her in her goals.

However, another part of her, an even larger part, couldn't help but ridicule that way of thinking. To stand idly by even though it was obvious her friend was suffering…

Just what kind of person did that make her?

Her hands dropped to her sides, fingers curling into fists as she clenched her teeth. Why was she so _weak?_ Even now, as empty as she was, why did these crippling emotions stop her from taking action?

Why did it feel like that the remnants of her past self were holding her back from something?

She just couldn't understand it. Her stomach roiled in disgust at her complacency and her fists trembled as she held back a sneer.

_If there's anything that I can do to help…no even if there is nothing, standing by like this. _Her eyes squeezed shut as she gritted her teeth. _Why won't I try to help? _

Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes and she let her shoulders slump. _What's wrong with me? _

Despite all of her prattling and reassurances, she really was nothing but a coward. Always running away and denying things that were too hard to handle. Clinging to an idea of things without actually doing anything to earn it; waiting for Mikoto to come to her when she hadn't put forth any effort. Just what kind of person was she?

She held up her clenched hands and slowly loosened her fingers. Angry red marks had been left by her fingernails. Disregarding the pain, she tightened them back into fists.

_No matter how weak I am, no matter how useless and empty I may be…I do not want to be the kind of person who does nothing as my friend suffers. I'll do everything in my power to help her even if she doesn't want me to. That's the person I, Shirai Kuroko, truly want to be. _

With this thought in mind, Kuroko reached into her skirt pocket and dialed #2 before holding the phone up to her ear. The speed dial was set to 'Kamijou Touma' and she only had to wait a few seconds before he answered.

_"Ah, hello?"_

"Kamijou-san!" Kuroko practically shouted before lowering her voice in case Mikoto heard. "Did something happen with Mikoto-senpai after I left?"

_"Um, not really. Misaka did get kind of weird when her twin sister showed up though. Not that she wasn't weird before but—"_

Tuning him out, Kuroko's eyes slowly widened. Her heart beat loud in her chest as his words played over and over again in his head. Twin sister? She had no idea; Mikoto had never said anything...

She felt her hands start to go numb. _I really don't know anything about her..._ Kamijou-san complained for a few more minutes, briefly mentioning that Mikoto-senpai's little sister helped him carry his drinks home in the middle of his tirade before mumbling about how he thought Misaka Imouto was a little strange but seemed like a nice girl.

"_Apparently she's also training for Judgment! Did you know anything about that, Shirai-san?"_

After ending her conversation with Kamijou-san, Kuroko turned to stare at the bathroom door questionably. If Mikoto-senpai had a twin sister who wanted to become a Judgment officer, wouldn't it make sense for Mikoto to tell, if not her, then Uiharu? Something about this didn't sit right with Kuroko.

For some reason, she thought back to the conversation that she had with her friends two weeks ago. Though Kuroko tended to ignore rumors, it didn't change the fact that she _had _heard some. One in particular stood out in her mind.

In the past few weeks, rumors of cloning a level 5 had become increasingly prominent. At the time Kuroko had quickly dismissed it, taking it as nothing more than childish nonsense. However, looking back on it, Mikoto's nonchalance regarding the whole matter was slightly…troubling.

If she remembered correctly, Mikoto had been acting strange that day as well. Her answer to the particular question had been even stranger.

"_If I suddenly met my clone? I wonder…honestly, I'd think I'd feel sick and want her to disappear."_

Kuroko frowned. _There's no way… but still, I can't shake this feeling that maybe…_Kuroko sighed as she placed her hand on her chin and considered her options. _Even if they're nothing but baseless rumors it couldn't hurt to check them out right?_

She kept to herself even as Mikoto finally emerged from the bathroom and they went about their normal routine in silence. An hour later, after taking her own shower, Kuroko found herself sitting at her desk pointlessly re-brushing the same section of hair as she stared unseeingly at the blank document open on her screen.

"Kuroko?"

Kuroko started and turned towards Mikoto curiously. The older girl was hunched over on her bed, sitting Indian style as she picked at the bed sheets. Kuroko stared at her trembling back for a moment and felt her heart ache before she whispered a soft. "Yes?"

"It's just, uh." Mikoto's voice shook a little, followed by a tiny laugh. "I'm sorry I haven't really been around these past few days."

"T-that's quite alright, Mikoto-senpai!" Kuroko made sure to put just the right about of cheer in her voice. "I understand that you have other matters to attend to. I've been getting by."

Mikoto huffed a little as she lifted her knees to her chest. "I can see that." she grumbled. "What with you hanging out with that guy…h-hey," Mikoto brought her hand to the back of her neck and nervously rubbed it. "Do you see that guy often?" her voice lowered. "D-does he make you happy?"

Kuroko bit her lip as she frowned, unsure how to answer. She thought for a moment before hesitantly responding. "Um…though, I am not sure why you are asking me this, yes. I consider Kamijou-san a friend."

"That's good. I mean, uh, that you have him." Mikoto gave an awkward smile. "I know I've been absent lately, so it's good that you have someone."

"I suppose so…" Kuroko mumbled as she placed her hands on the back of her chair and turned to face Mikoto fully. Though she couldn't see Mikoto's face, she could tell that she was upset. Her grip on the chair tightened a bit.

_Just hold on a little longer Mikoto-senpai…_

She took a deep breath as she stood before cautiously walking over to Mikoto's bed. "Anyways, it's getting late." She started as she placed her hand on Mikoto's shoulder, drawing the older girl's attention away from the covers and onto her. She smiled at Mikoto as her eyes softened. "You look like you could use some sleep, Mikoto-senpai."

"What? I-I'm not tired though." Mikoto muttered back unconvincingly as she shifted her eyes to the side.

"No arguing!" Kuroko pushed Mikoto back onto her bed, giving her a stern stare when she attempted to sit up before smiling when she lay back down with a roll of her eyes. Kuroko lifted her covers around her senpai before patting them with a grin. "Even if it's only for a few hours, you should rest."

Mikoto rested her head on her pillow as she glared up at Kuroko with a mix of grateful annoyance. "I don't know how I feel about you bossing me around."

"I am simply concerned with your well being, Senpai." Kuroko said importantly as she set Kirugumar next to Mikoto before straightening up and placing her hands on her hips. "It would make me feel better if you did."

"Ugh, Kuroko…"

_She's so stubborn. _Kuroko held in a sigh as she gazed at Mikoto affectionately before her lips curled into a small grin. _This is cheating but I am sure she can forgive me._ With that thought in mind, Kuroko cleared her throat before placing her hands behind her back and leaning down until she and Mikoto were only a few inches away. Kuroko brushed a strand of auburn hair behind her ear as her voice grew gentle. "Please, Mikoto?"

Mikoto's eyes swirled with an unreadable emotion as they widened in surprise before softening a moment later. She returned Kuroko's smile with one of her own. "Fine...but just this once."

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Mikoto ended it with a sigh and turned onto her side. She snuggled into her stuffed bear as she mumbled, "Goodnight, Kuroko."

Kuroko lingered by her side for a moment, almost tempted not to leave. Then, with a sigh, she flipped off the light and got into her own bed. She laid face down and stayed that way until she was sure that Mikoto was asleep nearly an hour later. Kuroko sat up with a deep breath, quietly slipping out of bed and moving to her desk. She reached inside the drawer and pulled out her phone. After searching through her contacts, she lifted the phone to her ear and waited for a moment before visibly brightening when the person on the other end answered.

"Ah, I know it's late but I was hoping I could come over."

At the response, she nodded, smiling a little. "Thank you. I'll be there soon."

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"Thank you for allowing me to come over so late at night, Uiharu," Kuroko said sincerely as she stood beside Uiharu's seat. Initially, Kuroko had planned to handle everything by herself. She wanted to avoid worrying her friends at all costs and she didn't want to lose Mikoto's trust by involving other people in her affairs.

However, as she was lying in her bed waiting for Mikto to fall asleep, she had realized that there was only so much she could do by herself. How much information could she truly gather if Mikoto herself was trying to keep something from her? Though she personally could not remember, she did dimly recall Uiharu saying that Mikoto-senpai was almost as good of a hacker as her.

Kuroko was adequate at operating a computer system, but not at Uiharu's—and apparently, Mikoto's—level. So who better to ask than the person who claimed they could beat the electromaster?

Which was precisely the reason she was here at her friends dorm at almost eleven pm.

Uiharu tried talking around the taiyaki in her mouth. "Ish no problem, Shirai-shan!" Then swallowed the last bit and grinned up at her. "I'm used to you making me get up at random hours of the night to help you with something."

"Oh." Kuroko responded dryly, wondering just how often she took advantage of this girl's kindness. "Well, still, thank you. I really appreciate this."

"I'm actually not used to you thanking me either." Uiharu giggled as she pulled out her laptop and set it on the table. "But you're welcome, Shirai-san. To be honest, I sort of missed this, so I'm happy to be of help."

Smiling a little, Kuroko leaned down until she and Uiharu were eye level and placed her palm next to the computer. "That's good to hear." Kuroko mused, watching Uiharu boot up the computer. A few minutes of silence passed before Uiharu tilted her head towards her.

"What exactly are we looking for anyways, Shirai-san?"

"Anything in relation to the mysterious fires at those factories throughout the city." Kuroko paused before continuing. "Actually, if you could narrow it down to the occurrences between the dates of August 15th through the 18th that would be helpful."

"Gotcha."

Kuroko frowned, her eyes flickering between the various images on the screen. "Can you hack into Shinaame University's mainframe?" she inquired, noting that the first listed fire occurred at Shinaame's DNA Map Analysis Laboratory. If her theory was correct and Mikoto-senpai was the one causing the fires, then there should be some evidence stating that.

"Huah, of course I can, but what for?" Uiharu squinted, pulling up the website and typing in a few codes.

"Just a hunch I have." Kuroko crossed her arms as she watched the other girl work. It took Uiharu under a minute to hack into the mainframe and Kuroko released an impressed whistle. She had to remember to ask Konori-senpai about exactly how skilled Uiharu truly was.

Kuroko skimmed the lengthy report filed in the University's mainframe before her breath caught. "Wait." She pointed at a small line of text. "Click there."

She leaned closer to the screen as she re-read the sentence. **It appears that the reason of the fire was an electrical disturbance in the laboratories mainframe.**

Electrical disturbance.

Normally a sentence like that wouldn't have set off any red flags but Kuroko was mindful of Mikoto's ability. Objectively speaking, while it was circumstantial evidence at best, it did nothing more than cement the truth for Kuroko. She didn't know why or how, but Mikoto-senpai was the one attacking those labs.

_Though the fact that she hasn't been caught yet is…_Kuroko frowned once more as she straightened up, placing a hand under her chin thoughtfully. _More importantly, what is happening in those labs? Does it have anything to do with those so called "clones?"_

"Is something the matter, Shirai-san?" Uiharu tilted her head, looking back at Kuroko. Kuroko responded to Uiharu's worry with an easy smile, shaking her head as she sat down.

"No, everything is fine, Uiharu. I just remembered something important but it's not relevant to the matter at hand."

Uiharu frowned, obviously confused. But it didn't seem like she'd manage to catch on and Kuroko released a small sigh of relief. She propped her elbow on the table as she returned her gaze to the computer.

"In any case, let's continue our search, shall we?"

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_August 21__st_

_Tokiwdai's Exterior Dorms _

_7:17PM_

Kuroko sighed heavily onto Mikoto's desk, her cheek pressed against the cool wood as she stared bitterly up at the blank screen. She had spent most of the night with Uiharu carefully tracking down where each and every fire was located until they had managed to scrounge up a suitable pattern. The majority of the facilities had been doing extensive research on DNA mapping and muscular dystrophy.

Three laboratories in particular, Kanasaki University of Muscular Dystrophy Research Institution, Mizuho Organization Pathology Analyst Laboratory and Higuchi Pharmaceutical Seventh Pharmaceutics Research Center all had to be evacuated over a two week period. Coincidentally, the same nights they were evacuated coincided with the nights Mikoto-senpai didn't come home.

It seemed that all the institutions were conducting an experiment of some sort before they were shut down.

Other than that, there was nothing else connecting the laboratories to one another. Realizing that they had collected all the information they could at this end, Kuroko had persuaded Uiharu to stop looking for the night. Kuroko then spent most of the day trying to see if she could come up with any more information on her own, and even went as far as to breaking into Mikoto's computer to see if there was anything on there. (Her senpai's password was 'GekotaFan' so she hadn't needed Uiharu's assistance in that regard).

However, after logging into Mikoto's desktop, she was not surprised to find out that Mikoto hadn't kept any record of her activities.

_In the end I wasn't able to find out anything…_Kuroko sat up a little, looking around the empty room. _Senpai still isn't back yet either. _She lowered her gaze back towards the table. When Mikoto had said that she would be done with everything by today, a deep sense of foreboding had welled up in Kuroko. Her stomach had twisted with nerves and she knew that she had to try harder or else…well, Kuroko did not know what would happen if she didn't but she knew it would be bad.

Still, after searching long into the night, she hadn't been able to find anything.

Kuroko leaned back in the chair, staring up at the ceiling. _What can I do? Should I go look for her? But I have no idea where to start. _Her brows furrowed as she leaned further back. _Senpai…_

Due to her inattention, Kuroko managed to lean _all _the way back, so far back that she fell out of her chair and slammed her head on the floor. For a few throbbing seconds, Kuroko's mind was cleared of any troubles as she focused on the ringing in her ears. As she slowly opened her eyes, tears began to pool in the corners. She raised a hand to wipe them away, but paused when she noticed that Kirugumar was under the bed.

"Oh." Kuroko reached forward and grabbed the stuff bear. "He must have fallen off her bed sometime during the day." She stood up to place him on the bed when her hand brushed his partially open zipper. Curiosity getting the best of her, Kuroko unzipped Kirugumar and tilted her head at the papers that popped out from him.

Kuroko unfolded the bunched up papers and gasped when she noticed the title of the document.

_N…no way._

_**Radio Noise: Accelerator's Level 6 Shift**_

Her hands began to tremble as sheread through the first few sentences.

_**There are a total of 7 level 5's, but only Accelerator is capable of reaching Level 6. Based on the Tree Diagram, we have concluded that by preparing 128 battlefields and by killing the Railgun 128 times, that the subject would shift to level 6.**_

Kuroko's stomach turned in disgust. "W-what the hell…Railgun? That's Mikoto-senpai right?" she clenched the papers tighter as she continued reading.

_**However, seeing that it is impossible to procure 128 Railguns, we've developed the mass-produced 'Sisters' **_

"_Misaka did get kind of weird when her twin sister suddenly showed up…"_

Kuroko gritted her teeth as she recalled Kamijou-san's words from earlier that day.

_**By eliminating 20,000 'Sisters', who were deemed level 3, Accelerator will reach level 6—**_

The sound of the doorbell ringing pulled Kuroko's eyes towards the door. Small shivers wracked her body and she felt the urge to retch but she could only clench her hands. The doorbell sounded again and Kuroko forced herself to move towards the monitor.

Her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Um, hello? Is anyone there? That's weird; did I press the wrong number…?"

_What's Kamijou-san doing here? _Her hands dropped to her side. She watched him glance around in confusion for a few moments, then pressed her finger against the 'talk' button.

"Kamijou-san?"

"Ah, Shirai, is that you? Is Misaka-san there?"

_Why is he asking for…? _Kuroko's mind raced a mile a minute. She swallowed before responding. "Mikoto-senpai is not home yet, but…you can come up, Kamijou-san."

"Are you sure?" Kamijou-san looked around anxiously once more. "Are boys even allowed in your dorms?"

"If you were actually worried about a thing like that then you should have called ahead." Kuroko glared at the screen. "Just hurry up."

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.

.

Kuroko opened the door for Kamijou-san and ushered him in, looking at both ends of the hallway to make sure no one saw. When she was sure he hadn't been spotted, she hid the documents behind her back as she closed the door and leaned against it. She searched his face for some kind of explanation, but something in his eyes made her stomach twist.

"Kamijou-san?"

He looked up and smiled a little before laughing, "Sorry, it's just." He paused and scanned the room. "Do you know where Misaka is?"

"No." Her eyes narrowed. "Kamijou-san, what's wrong? And whose cat is that?"

Kamijou-san's arms tightened around the cat as he shuffled his feet, his eyes shifting nervously from side to side before finally settling on her. "Shirai-san, I…" His gaze dropped. "I think Misaka is in trouble."

Brows furrowing, Kuroko pushed away from the door and took a step towards him. "What makes you say that? What do you know?"

He licked his lips, then cleared his throat. "I saw something that I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to." Kamijou-san frowned. "Misaka Imouto—she," He blinked rapidly, "…I wasn't able to stop it…"

Realization settled in Kuroko's stomach like a stone. She shakily brought the documents from behind her back.

_By eliminating 20,000 Sisters…_

Kuroko swallowed thickly, completely ignoring Kamijou-san in that moment.

_10030, August 20__th__ 10:30pm, 10031, August 21__st __6:30pm, August 21__st__ 8:30pm…_

"Kamijou-san, what time is it?" Kuroko voice shook as she gazed unseeingly at the papers.

Kamijou-san pulled his phone out and quietly read out the time. "7:30."

"_Everything will be over by today..."_

Kuroko didn't understand anything that was going on. The idea of killing a person 20,000 times was too insane, even for her. She couldn't comprehend it, was unable to make sense of it. But still, it did not change what she needed to do. What she _had _to do.

The papers fell to the floor as she rushed to pull on her shoes, her throat dry as she thought about Mikoto-senpai's words. If she had meant what Kuroko believed she did…

"Shirai-san?"

"I am sorry, Kamijou-san, I have to go." The words were barely out of her mouth before she teleported out of the room. The buildings appeared around her in a blur as she teleported across the city, her destination unknown as her heart raced in fear. She wasn't sure where she should go, but she knew she had to find Mikoto.

Before it was too late.

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**AN: The bolded parts of the section are directly from Volume 3 of Toaru Majutsu no Index. I'm sure there are some of you who are disappointed with Kuroko not meeting a Sister this chapter but I felt like it was better for her to come to the realization about Mikoto on her own. Even without her memories, Kuroko is a smart girl and the fact that they were committing these experiments in plain daylight, the fact that the clones were allowed to walk around Academy City without much restraint and the fact that Mikoto didn't exactly cover up her tracks when destroying the factories leads me to believe that people not finding out about the experiment wasn't on the scientist high list of priorities. Though it would have been fun to have Kuroko meet a Sister this time around, I didn't want there to be a 'butterfly' effect as you may call it seeing as the only real opportunities at this point to meet one is if she were with Touma. **

**Next chapter!: The infamous bridge scene and Accelerator makes his debut!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Okay, sorry for the wait guys! Once again, I'd like to thank my beta Touzen for being awesome and helping me out loads with this chapter. As you can see, new story image indicating a new chapter in Kuroko's and company's lives! Hopefully you all stick around for future adventures heh. **

**There weren't that many questions this time around but I want you to all know how much I really appreciate your comments. Excited to read about all of your thoughts after this chapter! **

**For those who asked, I could pair Touma up with someone but who? I rather like him with Shokuhou but that's because she's adorable when she's around him…? Thoughts?**

**Anyways, please read and review!**

_chapter dedication__**: **_**GreatSnapper (please read their Raildex fic titled "Big Sister's Responsibility" Really loving it right now and the writing is amazing.)**

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Chapter 7

Strength of Will (Shirai Kuroko)

_August 21_

_7:31PM_

The skies were a hazy deep blue.

Kuroko landed on top of a lamp post and frantically scanned the ground. She had no idea how she was going to find Mikoto but she knew she had no time to spare. Biting down on her bottom lip roughly, Kuroko brought her hand to her chin and narrowed her eyes.

_Think, Kuroko. Where would she go?_

By chance, Kuroko eyes fell on some nearby wind turbines. Despite the lack of wind, they were spinning. She dimly recalled something Mikoto had told her a few weeks ago. Mikoto-senpai unconsciously emitted invisible electromagnetic waves. The motors in the wind turbines were made with a material that would rotate the blades when specific electromagnetic waves were applied. If the blades were spinning even though there was no wind, then they must have been reacting to said electromagnetic waves.

_So if I follow that line of reasoning then... _Kuroko clenched her jaw and jumped off the street light, teleporting before she hit the ground.

_I'll find her. _Kuroko glared straight ahead as she moved along the turbines._ Even if it kills me, I'll find you Mikoto-senpai. _

_That's a promise. _

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Failure.

That one word echoed through Mikoto's mind as she leaned against the handrail and vacantly stared out into the lights of the city. Her electricity crackled every now and then as her thoughts lingered on certain memories.

Blood everywhere, a severed leg. Her own dead, empty eyes. Memories of her own weakness flashed through her head. She was a failure. Her inability to stop the experiments no matter how hard she tried and suffered was proof of that.

Scoffing a little, Mikoto squeezed her eyes shut as she clenched her hands. Suffered? What right did she have to think that knowing what she put those girls through? What she continued to put them through just by existing. If she had never given away her DNA map then maybe…

But now was not the time for "ifs" and "maybes." It was already past that. People were dying and she was an accomplice to murder. She was no better than those scientist or _Accelerator _because she was the catalyst. This was her fault.

Everything was her fault.

Mikoto reopened her eyes slowly, wiping harshly at a stray tear that slid down her cheek. She rested her forearms on the handrail once more as she lowered her head. She knew what she had to do, what must be done in order to stop the experiments, but still. She was scared.

She was so scared.

Even in the darkest moment of her despair, she had something to hold on top. She'd always had the hope that she would be able to stop this madness, that she could save her sisters from the terrible fate that she had forced upon them. How naïve she had been. She knew now that there was no happy ending. At least not for her.

But maybe for her sisters.

Maybe with this one act, she could put everything to rest and they could live without having to know when they were going to die.

She knew it was selfish, but what right did she have to exist when people were dying because of her? She would end this tonight. The blood of Misaka Mikoto would be the last that was spilt.

With that conviction in place, Mikoto allowed herself a moment to think about her friends. She had failed them too. Lying to them, deceiving them even though it was for their own good. Really, just what kind of person was she?

She smiled a little as she gazed down into the sea. _I guess I wasn't able to keep my promise after all, huh, Kuroko?_

On a certain day in what felt like a past life, Mikoto had assured Kuroko—_when she was still "Kuroko"—_that they would always be together. It looks like she wouldn't be able to make good on that promise.

"I'm sorry, Kuroko." Her shoulders began shaking, "I'm sorry."

The sound of footsteps echoing in the still night broke her chain of thought.

Mikoto started. The silhouette of her kouhai began to emerge from the darkness, and her heart jolted. Her figure became clearer as she grew closer, and Mikoto was taken aback. But she could not afford to linger on those thoughts.

She forced her expression into one of stern concern.

"Kuroko, what are you doing out so late?" Mikoto frowned, placing a hand on the handrail as she turned to face her kouhai. Though her body was lax, she could only hope Kuroko couldn't hear her heart beating hard in her chest. "It's almost time for cur—"

"Don't do this." Kuroko's voice was between a command and a plea. It did not take much to see through Mikoto's façade. It was too perfect, too practiced. She could not bear the sight of it when she knew the pain that lay beneath.

Mikoto's composure slipped for a moment, only to return stronger. A fake smile rested on Mikoto's lips as she released a small laugh.

"Huh, what is that supposed to mean?" Mikoto chuckled with a shake of her head. "Don't do what? What a weird thing to say." She waved Kuroko off as she turned back towards the sea. "I'll be home soon, so you should go ahead without me."

Kuroko frowned at the blatant dismissal. "If that's the case, then allow me to stay with you." She took a step forward. "After all, it's been a while since we last spent time together."

A hint of emotion stirred in brown eyes before Mikoto closed them, resting her chin on her palm. "I'm busy tonight, Kuroko. I'm sorry, but I don't have time to deal with you."

Pausing mid-step, Kuroko felt her chest tighten at those words. Still, she held steadfast in her pace as she continued her stride. "I think we both know the real reason why you don't want me here, Mikoto-senpai." Kuroko caught another glimpse of that earlier emotion, only to frown when it disappeared with Mikoto's sigh.

When Mikoto turned to look at her, her eyes were devoid of any emotion. "Aren't you being a little clingy?" she asked with a sigh, placing her hand on her waist in the process. "And here I thought I wouldn't have to deal with this anymore. Look, I don't know what's going on with you tonight but everything is fi—" Mikoto faltered when Kuroko suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Jeez, Kuroko." She huffed, taking a step back. "Don't teleport like that without warning me…first…" Mikoto accidentally met Kuroko's gaze, her heart contrsitcing at the plea in her eyes. She bit the corner of her lip and looked away, her mind racing to come up with something to ease the girl's worry.

However, Mikoto's excuses dried up with Kuroko's next sentence.

"I know about the experiment."

Mikoto's breath caught at that, horror seizing her as Kuroko mumbled, "I know, Mikoto-senpai."

Swallowing back the bile that was climbed up her throat, Mikoto forced out a laugh. "W-what are you talking about…?" Small, almost unnoticeable shivers began to wrack her form. "S-stop messing around."

Kuroko continued, even as Mikoto's eyes grew damp. "Kirugumar was a good hiding spot." She smiled a little, almost to herself. "I never would have thought to look there."

"Kuroko…"

"I guess I just got lucky tonight..." Kuroko's shoulders dropped. "I read it all. About Accelerator and the Sisters...so you can stop pretending, Mikoto-senpai. You can stop acting like everything is okay when we both know it's not."

And like that, the mask Mikoto had so carefully crafted began to crack. Her bottom lip quivered as she looked away, too ashamed to hold her kouhai's gaze a moment longer. She gritted her teeth against a wave of nausea, her hands shaking as she glared down at the ground.

"Just go home, Kuroko." She begged, voice cracking a little. "Please."

At this, Kuroko shook her head. She grew closer, lifting a hand as if to reach out and touch her before dropping it at the last minute "I'm not leaving without you."

"It's too dangerous out here for you." Mikoto swallowed a little and frowned, lifting her head so that she could peer down at Kuroko from beneath her bangs. "I can handle this."

"I am _not_ leaving without you." Kuroko repeated, her voice growing slightly desperately. She pressed closer until there were only a few inches between them and took a hold of Mikoto's wrists. "This isn't safe for you either."

Annoyance mixed with several doses of fear pulsed heavily through Mikoto. She scowled and wrenched her hands away. "There is no reason for you to be involved," she snapped. "Go _home._"

Kuroko's brows furrowed and she let her hands drop. It was quiet for several seconds before Kuroko whispered, "This Accelerator, guy…you can't beat him, can you?"

A stone dropped in Mikoto's stomach as she inhaled sharply. Her mouth formed into a thin line as her eyes hardened, but she did not answer.

Kuroko nodded at her lack of response.

"That's what I thought. If you could defeat him, you would have done so in the first place; instead you ran around destroying research facilities." Kuroko smiled sadly. "My senpai is the type who would rather solve the issue directly instead of going through such roundabout methods. Which means that you _cannot _beat him."

"Kuroko, don't…"

At the fear that was now apparent in Mikoto's face, Kuroko's allowed her voice to soften. "I think I have an idea on what you plan to do," she whispered, eyes darkening. "How can I leave you knowing that?"

Mikoto slumped forward. "How can you even say that knowing what I've done?" She swallowed back the urge to throw up. "You read the report. You must know that—" Mikoto sucked her bottom lip. Tears began to gather but she shut her eyes againt them. "How can you even stand to look at me?"

She was a failure through and through. She couldn't save her sisters. She couldn't even protect this girl, who looked up to her so much, from the realities of this city. What was she worth when she couldn't even achieve that much?

"Because I care about you."

A few tears slipped down Mikoto's cheek as her throat began to close up. She lifted a hand to wipe at a few errant tears, sniffling. Then with a deep, shaky breath, she lowered her arm and looked up. Electricity flickered out from beneath her bangs.

"How can you claim to care about me when you don't even _know _me?" She gritted her teeth, her earlier nausea growing. "My _real_ best friend is dead." Her voice cracked as a sob tore through her chest and the electricity grew. "So don't pretend you know _anything_ about me."

_Push her away. Keep her safe…I have to keep her safe. Push her away. _This played like a mantra in Mikoto's head as she glared at the ground, unable to see through her tears. If she hurt Kuroko enough then maybe…just maybe she could save one more person's life tonight.

"You're right."

Mikoto's breath caught as she looked up, her scowl crumbling at the unwavering resolve glinting in Kuroko's eyes. Her heart clenched as Kuroko walked towards her, seemingly oblivious to the dangerous sparks flickering around them.

"Your 'Kuroko' is gone. She washed away that night along with the memories of everything I was, everything I would have been. However, you're also wrong, Mikoto, because I _do_ know you." She stopped in front of Mikoto, her hands clenched tight. She seemed oblivious to the danger of being so close to the rampant shocks. "You're childish and stubborn. You act on your own without thinking of the consequences first. You're impulsive and hardheaded and quick to pick a fight." She exhaled softly. "But you're also kind and generous and _so_ brave."

"S-stop it…" Mikoto wanted to yell at her, to scream at Kuroko to stop making things harder than they already were. To stop looking at her like she was worth something when she had spent all this time convincing herself she wasn't. If Accelerator killed 128 Railguns, he can shift to level 6. But what if Mikoto wasn't even worth that much? What if she died on the first move? Wouldn't that then prove the Tree Diagrams calculations were incorrect? Wouldn't that give them the incentive to stop this crazy experiment?

Yes, that's what Mikoto had concluded as she stood on the bridge, staring out at the open black sea. If she could make them believe that then they would have no choice but to give up. She knew what she had to do. But Kuroko…

"I know that you make mistakes." Kuroko continued. "I know that you're not perfect. I know that you took on the blame, this responsibility by yourself because you felt like you had no one else to turn to. I know that you would do anything for the people you love, even sacrifice yourself in the hopes of stopping more bloodshed."

"Stop it—stop it! Shut up!" Mikoto screamed, a stream of electricity releasing from her bangs and flying past Kuroko, barely grazing her clothes. She had to make Kuroko shut up.

She had to.

Mikoto knew how this would play out. Though she longed for it, she could not be the hero in this story. She could not stand up to the enemy and properly defeat them. She could only sacrifice her own life in order to contradict the calculations simulated by that machine.

But even with the threat of further pain, Kuroko did not falter. If Mikoto could describe the most prominent emotions she could see in Kuroko's eyes, she would say it was a mix between quiet determination and muted compassion. It didn't seem like Kuroko would ease up no matter what Mikoto said.

Which meant she had to physically force her to leave.

"What does it even matter?" Mikoto's breathing was labored as her power grew in intensity. "Even though you say all this, it doesn't change anything! There's another experiment tonight which means I have to face Accelerator now. I have to end it all right now! So get out of my way!"

Kuroko squared her shoulders and stood her ground. "No."

Mikoto's lips began to tremble. "Don't you understand?! More of them will continue to be sacrificed if I don't die tonight! Don't tell me that you only care about what happens to me when so many others are suffering in my place! Don't—" Tears once again began to fall down Mikoto's cheeks. "Don't tell me that, Kuroko."

Mouth forming into a line, Kuroko clenched her fists. "Of course I care that people are dying, Mikoto. Of_ course_ I care. But even so, I won't let you go."

"More than anything, I want to protect those girls. If you can't understand that then—then…" Mikoto's words got caught in her throat. "Then I'll have no choice but to take you out! I won't hold back even if it's you! I'll do everything I can to save them!"

"… I won't let you go."

Kuroko finally understood what Kamijou-san meant before. To willingly put your life at risk to save another person, to sacrifice everything so someone you care for wouldn't have to cry anymore…

_He's is a martyr who holds no thought of his own well-being. He and I are nothing alike. In all honesty, he's an idiot through and through. However…for this girl…_

"You think I won't do it?" A harsh, desperate sounding laugh escaped Mikoto's lips, her mouth twisting into a hateful smile. "If you really think that then you're a bigger idiot than I thought." Her voice began to shake with rage. "This isn't a world where everyone gets an happy ending! This is reality! Happy endings don't exist here! Only blood and death and fear and pain! I don't deserve to have you say that to me! I don't deserve _anything_! My only purpose now is to die so that they don't have to anymore! Why can't you understand that!?"

The sparks around her flickered as her voice rose. The blue-white streaks snapped dangerously at the ground and the railing of the bridge.

Even then, Kuroko would not turn away.

"I won't leave, Mikoto." Kuroko raised a hand to her chest and placed it against her heart. "I won't stand aside knowing that this is the path that you've chosen, and I certainly refuse to watch you die."

"Goddamnit Kuroko." Mikoto gritted her teeth as her electricity lashed out, destroying the light bulbs that were lined along the bridge. "Just get out of my way…!"

"I won't," she whispered.

In that moment, an electric spear shot from Mikoto's bangs and tore past Kuroko, missing her by only a few inches and striking the ground behind her. Though it flew past her, Kuroko could feel the power behind the attack just from the heat it radiated. She knew that if she were hit directly by such an attack, it would most certainly be over.

Even so, she would not turn away.

"Next time I won't miss." Mikoto's eyes grew hard. "This is your last chance, Kuroko."

Still, Kuroko shook her head.

At this, a rush of anger pulsed through Mikoto and she shot a violent electrical spear straight for Kuroko. She was sure that Kuroko would dodge at the last minute, teleport to safety atop one of the telephone poles. Mikoto was sure that Kuroko would be so shaken up by the fact that someone she relied on actually attacked her that she would have no choice but to leave.

Mikoto could handle Kuroko looking at her in disapproval and shame if it meant the younger girl's safety was ensured.

What she didn't expect however was for Kuroko to not move at all.

Her eyes widened in horror, but it was too late to stop. Her attack pierced through Kuroko's body, knocking her off her feet and into the air. The momentum took her several meters, rolling and dragging her across the concrete, until finally she lay unmoving.

Mikoto took a hesitant step forward only to fall back a beat. Nausea roiled in her stomach and the urge to retch was stronger than it had ever been. Disgust and self hate twisted in her gut.

_Monster. _Her vision grew hazy as tears began to stream down her face. _I'm a monster. Just like him. _

However, those feelings were soon replaced by shock. Slowly but surely, Kuroko had begun to rise.

"…why?" she couldn't help but whisper as Kuroko lifted herself from the ground. Despite the betrayal, the look in her eyes did not waver. If anything, she seemed more determined than ever.

"That…that hurt less than I thought it would," Kuroko mumbled to herself, a shaky smile playing on her lips. "Almost like my body is used to it. Not sure how I feel about that though." Kuroko's legs were a little wobbly as she finally stood, gaining her balance after a moment.

Relief tightened Mikoto's throat but that didn't stop the hatred that stung her heart. A dull, empty laugh fell from her lips. "S-see? I told you I would do it. I'm not the kind, loving senpai you think me to be!" Tears continued to run down Mikoto's face. "So please! Please just get out of here!"

A heavy breath escaped Kuroko as she wiped at her cheek. "I do not believe in fairy tales." She held her hand against her mouth. "The good guys don't always win, happy endings don't always come true…but still, even knowing that, I won't stand aside. Even though it's selfish of me…" She lowered her hand and clenched her fist. "I won't let you go!"

Mikoto staggered back at the power she could hear in Kuroko's voice. Her breath caught, the sparks around her dissipating when she suddenly felt strong arms around her waist. Auburn locks tickled her nose as Kuroko held her close.

"Go ahead and shock me all you want. Let it all out. Cry and scream as much as you need." Kuroko arms tightened against her. "You're not the villain, Mikoto, and you're not weak."

"Stop this." Mikoto pleaded weakly, her arms hanging at her side. "Please stop it."

Kuroko shook her head once more. "You can't push me away even if you hurt me. No matter what you believe, I was involved the moment you walked into my hospital room and met my eyes."

"Stop it!" Mikoto grabbed her head with both hands as she slowly dropped to her knees. Kuroko followed after her, refusing to let her go.

"I'll say it as many times as you need to hear it. I won't let you go."

"My death is the only way to save those girls!" Mikoto sobbed hysterically, her power once again acting up again. "My death can save so many! Isn't that wonderful? If I die, I can save everyone!"

Kuroko heart ached at Mikoto's words, but she could only close her eyes as she held the girl even harder. "No, Mikoto…" Her hands gripped Mikoto's vest until she thought it might tear. "This won't save anybody."

Something inside Mikoto broke at these words. An almost inhuman scream tore from Mikoto's throat as shook in Kuroko's arms, and a beam of lightning burst down from the sky. The high voltage attack pierced the ground, surrounding the bridge with a blanket of light.

But still, Kuroko did not release Mikoto from her arms. She did not teleport to safety or move out of the way.

She held Mikoto despite the pain. Despite the risk of death.

And in the end, that's all there was to it.

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Kuroko cracked open her eyes, blurred shapes filling her vision. She tried to inhale but was interrupted by broken coughs. Her limbs felt cold and numb. The high voltage had probaly cut off her circulation. Her heart beat was irregular, and she was sure it must have stopped a few times when she was unconscious.

Still, she smiled bleariy at the shape looming above her.

"You're still here," she mumbled, her throat dry. Her eyes narrowed in happiness as Mikoto leaned above her, tears dripping down her red cheeks and splashing Kuroko's face. Though the rest of her body was cold, Kuroko's neck and head rested on something warm. Mikoto's lap.

Grinning, Kuroko felt a tear of her own trail down her face. "You're still here."

Mikoto sniffled, wiping at her eyes roughly "Y-you're such an idiot." She hiccupped, her shoulders shaking"You should have moved away, you dummy. Your heart stopped. I was so sure that I had…you're _such _an idiot."

Kuroko draped her arm across her stomach, her lips curling up into a small smile. "That makes sense given who my senpai is."

A tiny, broken laugh fell from Mikoto's lips. "K-Kuroko, don't be so…"

"Heh." With a trembling hand, Kuroko gently took a hold of Mikoto's wrist and lowered it away from her face. She smiled wider when she met teary brown eyes. "I don't mind being an idiot when it comes to you, Mikoto."

"Stupid…" Mikoto sniffled. "You're so stupid…"

Kuroko giggled, holding Mikoto's hand against her chest. She heard a small chuckle from beside her and turned her head to the side. Her eyes widened in surprise when she noticed who was kneeling beside them.

She smiled a little. "Took you long enough to get here."

Kamijou-san grinned. "Sorry. I ran into trouble on the way."

Kuroko's nose crinkled up. "I'm assuming since you're here that you read the reports…tell me, did you stop and save someone on your way to help us?"

"Oi, it's not like I can help it…"

Kuroko sighed, looking up at Mikoto. Despite Kuroko's exchange with Kamijou-san, Mikoto's gaze hadn't left her. Eyes softening, Kuroko tightened her hold on Mikoto's hand.

With a deep breath, Kuroko tried to sit up.

"Woah, w-what are you doing, don't try to move." Mikoto gently but firmly pressed down on her chest so that Kuroko could lay back down. It did not take much strength to hold Kuroko down, given how her body was still numb. She could only bite her lip, her mind racing as reality came crashing back into her.

The experiments were still happening. Even though she had gotten Mikoto to stay, she knew the fragility of the situation. If she could not come up with an idea that wouldn't end in more bloodshed, Mikoto would surely run off and attempt to take care of the situation her own way.

_Think Kuroko…what can we do?_

Several seconds passed. Kuroko blinked, coming back from her thoughts when a calloused hand pressed against her forehead.

"Are you okay?" Kamijou-san asked. "Misaka filled me in on the situation." He moved his hand back to his knee and turned to look at Mikoto. "She doesn't look so good, Misaka. I think you should take her to a hospital."

Kuroko followed his movements with her eyes before a realization popped up in her mind.

"Kamijou-san…you..." Kuroko forced herself upright again, her limbs sluggish and heavy. Her breathing was labored as Mikoto supported her shoulders but even with how weak her body her body felt, the determination in her gaze did not waver.

"Accelerator is Academy City's strongest, right?" Kamijou-san lifted his right hand and stared at his palm. "Well, what would those researches think if he was defeated by someone who they themselves labeled as weak? Wouldn't that throw all of their research into question?"

"H-hey, you can't be thinking of fighting him!" Mikoto sounded like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You have no idea what kind of power that guy has! He's a monster! He'll rip through you like paper! You can't defeat him! You have no hope of beating him!"

"If the only other option is for you to fight then I'm going." Kamijou-san lifted up from his kneeling position and stood tall, facing away from them. "Shirai-san risked her life to keep you from going." He clenched his fist. "I'm not going to stomp all over her wish to keep you safe."

Kuroko's heart lifted in her chest and she slumped against Mikoto a little. A disbelieving smile played on her lips as a few tears slipped down her cheeks.

_He really is quite sentimental isn't he?_

"You can't be serious! This isn't a manga! He'll kill you for real! You can't—"

"Take care of Shirai-san, Misaka." His eyes narrowed. "I'm going."

"You—" Mikoto was at a loss for words. She had no idea what to say or how she should feel. This guy, this perfect stranger was telling her he would fight in her place. He was telling her he would stop Accelerator. He would put his life at risk to protect Kuroko's dream.

Just who was this guy to her kouhai?

"Don't die."

Mikoto tore her eyes from him and onto Kuroko. Kuroko's face was full of trust and belief. Mikoto swallowed thickly and her stomach clenched.

"I won't."

"Good…stop the guy who is making my senpai cry, Kamijou-san." Kuroko mumbled, turning her gaze towards Mikoto. "Make sure you make him pay for all he's done."

Kamijou-san's raised his brows before smiling. He nodded. "Got it." He looked over at Mikoto. "I'll bring back Misaka-Imouto. It's a promise."

He gave Kuroko one last meaning look before sprinting off. Kuroko watched him go with a smile, which faded as her eyes grew blurry. "M-mikoto, can I ask you something?"

Mikoto composed herself enough to talk. "Anything, Kuroko."

"Ah…just how frequently have you shocked me…? How has my body built up a resistance to surive a shock like that?" Kuroko took a deep breath. "More importantly, what exactly did I do to warrant these shocks?"

It was so unexpected, so surprising, that Mikoto couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. It was a watery laugh that made her dissolve into tears once more.

"You really are such an idiot," Mikoto murmured fondly.

"Yeah..." Her eyes started to droop as her consciousness seeped from her. "Apparently I am."

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**AN: Accelerator actually did not show up this chapter but don't worry! He'll be in the next one, as menacing as ever. For all those wondering how Mikoto and Touma's conversation went before Kuroko woke up, you'll see all that next chapter! Thanks again for reading and see you next time!**


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